Australia, ISIS, hostages

[Theredandthewhite]

What the bloody hell is going on? Poor people

Fingers crossed they all leave unharmed

sorry DM link

This is quite scary.

Couldn't see a BBC link

Terrifying, fucking animals

The pic of the flag is cut off half way. It appears to be the Black Standard, which is associated with jihadists/Islamists. It's not necessarily ISIS.

The footage looks terrifying, as they seem to have placed hostages in the windows.

I hope no more footage will be shown.

A number of other sites in Sydney are being evacuated. Police asking people to stay away from the area.

Oh ok.

I looked for one online instead of linking to the DM.

So distressing.

Apparently it's not the ISIS flag. It's a flag showing the Shahada, which is the Muslim creed. So not necessarily ISIS.

news.com.au page here, being updated as info released

Trojan, interesting about the flag. Reports that an alleged terrorist was arrested earlier today in Sydney too.

Hoping and praying they all get home ok.

Fucking hell. Poor people.

I hope this can be settled peacefully and the hostages released.

Yes, apparently there was going to be a press announcement about the earlier terrorism arrests at 11:00 Sydney time, but that has been cancelled given the siege.

They are now saying devices all over the city. Those poor people, they must be terrified, please let them be safe.

Auntie, that link you posted is now saying 40-50 people being held hostage.

Shabby where did you see that?

It probably means that they don't actually know how many people would typically be in the cafe at that time of day.

Its live on Sky news now.

Lots of (not terribly clearly sourced) reports about what may be happening.

Sydney Opera House and some other sites evacuated, but not clear if it's precautionary of if there are specific threats or incidents.

Sydney airport remains open, but flights being diverted to avoid CBD.

Oh god, that's horrific.

There is a discussion of the flag and it's possible significance here - Sydney Morning Herald

Oh god.

It is across from a news station and a government building.

The information about multiple devices came from Ray Hadley and 2GB. I'll take it with a grain of salt until ABC confirms it.

The 40-50 people figure is the Lindt CEO's estimate of maximum number of people who could be in the cafe. Definitely not a confirmed number of hostages.