Two reportedly dead 'including gunman' as police raid Australian cafe

According to the UK Daily Mail, an Iranian-born gunman was killed and one of his hostages is feared dead in a dramatic and chaotic firefight as police stormed a Sydney cafe to end the terrorist siege.

Teams of heavily armed police swooped on the Lindt Chocolat cafe in a hail of gunfire, ending a tense stand-off where a jihadist had been holding around 20 people captive for 17 hours.

There were that at least three others were injured, but this could not immediately be confirmed.

Live television coverage showed at least two people being taken away from the scene on stretchers, while one hostage was seen being carried out of the building. She appeared to be in pain and blood flowed down her legs.

Nine News reported that eleven hostages had been accounted for after the police raid, which occurred shortly after 2am.

A hostage feared dead is carried out of the cafe after they were reportedly shot by the hostage-taker, prompting police to storm the building

An injured hostage is carried away on a stretcher by paramedics after police stormed the Lindt Chocolat cafe in central Sydney

Man Haron Monis - also known as Sheik Haron - has been named as the gunman holding up to 15 people hostage in a Sydney café

Earlier, the police said that the hostage-taker was Man Haron Monis, an Iranian-born man in his 50s with a criminal record who called himself Sheikh Haron. Australian media reports quoted the man’s former lawyer as saying he was acting alone. But it was unclear whether the gunman had accomplices.