Siege at Sydney cafe ends after police storm building (LIVE BLOG)

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A timeline of how the hostage crisis unfolded

This timeline published by ABC News tracks in detail how events unfolded.

Iran condemns deadly Australia hostage-taking

Agence France-Presse — Tehran on Monday condemned the deadly hostage-taking in Australia reportedly by an Iranian-born gunman, branding it an act foreign to Islam, state media quoted a government official as saying.

"Undertaking such inhuman acts and provoking fear and panic in the name of merciful Islam is not in any way justifiable," Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, according to IRNA news agency.

3 dead, several injured in hostage crisis

Sydney police confirmed that three people died, including the gunman, and several were injured in the hostage situation.

Australian police press conference at 2 p.m. ET

Watch it live on NBC News:

Sydney police press conference at 1 p.m. ET

Here's why #illridewithyou is trending

GlobalPost's Timothy McGrath writes:

The writing was on the wall from the moment when hostages held in a downtown Sydney cafe held up a black flag with Arabic script emblazoned on it.

The hostage situation in Sydney comes three months after a major counterterrorism operation in which 15 people allegedly influenced by the Islamic State were arrested in connection with a plan to carry out random public beheadings in Sydney and Brisbane.

So tensions are understandably high in Australia when it comes to terrorism and the influence of the Islamic State. But nevermind that the siege turned out NOT to be the work of a team of Islamic State operatives, but rather, a single lone wolf named Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee with a criminal record of sexual assault and hobbies that include sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers. Close enough for some people.

Within hours, according to Reuters, there were reports that Muslim women in hijab had been spat on, right-wing groups were calling for protests at mosques, and the Australian National Imam's Council, an umbrella organization for the country's Muslim groups, found itself in that all-too-familiar and absurd position of having to defending all of Islam thanks to the actions of a very few lunatics — in this case, just one lunatic. Encouragingly, many Australians are standing up against Islamophobic backlash, and they're using the Twitter hashtag #illridewithyou to do it.

It started with these tweets.

Read on here. 

Reports of fatalities, injuries

The number of people who have been killed and injured is still unknown. Channel 9NEWS, citing police, is reporting that two people have been killed.

Hostages flee from the cafe

This Mashable video shows hostages running from the cafe:

Police have confirmed that the siege is over, according to Agence France-Presse.

Police break siege

Kate Smithers of 7 News Perth is reporting that the siege has ended:

Bomb disposal robot in building

The Guardian is reporting that a bomb disposal robot has entered the cafe.

Police storm cafe, hostages flee

Reuters — Police stormed the Sydney cafe where a gunman has been holding an unknown number of people hostage for more than 15 hours, and heavy gunfire was heard, a Reuters witness at the scene said. 

More hostages reportedly released

There are unconfirmed reports coming in of more hostages fleeing the cafe. Earlier, five hostages ran to safety. Here's what we're seeing:

The foreign editor of ABC News just tweeted this:

Background details on the gunman

This Sydney Morning Herald piece goes into detail on the hostage taker Man Haron Monis's background: 

Most recently, he was charged with more than 50 allegations of indecent and sexual assault relating to time allegedly spent as a self-proclaimed "spiritual healer" who dealt with black magic at a premises in western Sydney more than a decade ago.

Australian hostage taker named as Iranian refugee with criminal past

Reuters — An Iranian refugee convicted of sexual assault and known for sending hate letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed overseas is the armed man holding an unknown number of hostages in a Sydney cafe, a police source said on Tuesday. Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled sheikh, remained holed up in the cafe some 15 hours after the siege began. "There's no operational reason for that name to be held back by us now," said the police source, who declined to be identified.

Brief summary of events so far

Agence France-Presse — A lone gunman kept terrified staff and customers captive into Monday night in a downtown Sydney cafe, brandishing an Islamic flag, as five of his hostages managed to flee for their lives.

• The pre-Christmas siege of the Lindt chocolate cafe triggered a security lockdown in an area of Australia's biggest city that houses several government and corporate headquarters, as hundreds of armed police surrounded the site.
• The government said there was no clear motivation but the flag appeared to be one commonly used by militant groups bearing the shahada, or profession of faith in Islam. It said: "There is no God but Allah; Mohammed is his messenger."
• Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened a national security meeting to deal with the "disturbing" development.
• Some six hours into the siege, three men emerged from the popular cafe and ran for their lives, two from the front door and one from an emergency exit. Around an hour later two distraught women also fled. It was not clear if they escaped or were released.
• US President Barack Obama was briefed on the crisis, the White House said.