Two people died, along with an Islamist gunman, after commandos stormed a cafe in Sydney, Australia, to bring a 16-hour siege to an end.

The gunman, identified as an Iranian refugee, had taken dozens of hostages.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione confirmed that four people had been injured, including a policeman hit by gunshot pellets.

And he told a news conference that commandos had heard shots inside, before they stormed the building.