RAW - Police storming the Sydney cafe, intense gunfight ensues

Australian security forces on Tuesday (December 16) stormed the Sydney cafe where several hostages were being held at gunpoint, in what looked like the dramatic denouement to a standoff that had dragged on for more than 16 hours. Heavy gunfire and loud bangs rang out shortly after 2 a.m. local time on Tuesday (December 16) (1500 GMT, Monday, December 15), and moments earlier at least six people believed to have been held captive had managed to flee the scene. ABC television broadcast live pictures of a man thought to be a hostage running away from the scene with his hands up minutes before armed police entered the cafe. Medics moved in and took away several injured people on stretchers, but it was not clear whether they included the gunman who had been named by a police source only minutes earlier. He was identified as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh facing multiple charges of sexual assault. He was also found guilty in 2012 of sending offensive and threatening letters to families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, as a protest against Australia's involvement in the conflict, according to local media reports. During the siege, hostages had been forced to display an Islamic flag, igniting fears of a jihadist attack.