Gunman Raids Café in Sydney, Australia | Held 15 People Hostage

A gunman allegedly stormed a café in central Sydney, Australia, early this morning and has been holding as many as 15 people hostage for over 12 hours.

According to Dailymail UK, the drama began unfolding when a gunman entered the cafe, located in one of busiest plazas in Sydney’s central business district, and pulled a shotgun from a blue carry bag and disabled the doors to the business.

Soon afterwards, the hostages were reportedly seen with their hands pressed against the windows holding up the Islamic Shahada flag.

The Islamic Shahada flag is described as an emblem of extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra currently fighting the Assad government in Syria.

Policemen are currently on the scene and five captives have managed to escape through the fire escape and side door.

Journalist, Chris Reason, has been tweeting about the situation.

Our thoughts go out to the hostages and we hope everyone gets out safely.
Also on Twitter, a hashtag #IllRideWithYou has started trending in a bid to support Muslims living in Australia and dissociate them from the hostage situation.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Mark Metcalfe