Extremists Attack Hotel in Mali, Several Killed

20 Nov, 2015

Islamic extremists armed with guns and throwing grenades stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Friday morning, killing at least three people and hostages. Malian troops, backed by special forces from America and France, reacted quickly.

As people ran for their lives near the luxury hotel along a dirt road, the soldiers in full combat gear pointed the way to safety, sometimes escorting civilians with a protective arm around their shoulders.

Within hours, local TV images showed heavily armed troops in what appeared to be a lobby area. Malian state TV reported that 80 people have been freed.

An extremist group that two years ago split from al-Qaida’s North Africa branch and led by Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility for the attack, in a recorded statement carried by Al-Jazeera. The group said it wanted fighters freed from Mali’s prisons and for attacks against northern Malians to stop.

The jihadist group, known as the Mourabitounes, was formed in 2013 after Belmoktar left al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and fused with a Malian militant group. The statement issued Friday said the Mourabitounes had attacked in coordination with the “Sahara Emirate” affiliated with al-Qaida.

Gunfire continued into the late afternoon. Malian army commander Modibo Nama Traore said operations were continuing and it was not yet confirmed that all hostages are freed.

Malian special forces were freeing hostages “floor by floor,” Traore told The Associated Press. Still, Rezidor Hotel, the Brussels-based group that operates the hotel, said hours after the assault began that 125 guests and 13 employees remained in the hotel.

U.S. special forces troops were assisting Malian forces in hostage rescue efforts, said Col. Mark Cheadle of the U.S. Army’s Africa Command. President Barack Obama said he’s monitoring the situation. At least six Americans were evacuated from the hotel but it was unclear how many more may be inside, Cheadle said.

France’s national gendarme service said about 40 French special police forces were playing a support role. The French defense ministry said French soldiers have arrived in Bamako to support Malian forces.

The guests at the sprawling, cream-and-pink colored luxury hotel, which has 190 rooms and features a spa, outdoor pool and ballroom, came from many countries. But the attack was perceived by many in France, particularly in the government, as a new attack on French interests, a week after the Paris attacks.

It was not immediately clear which Muslim extremist groups might be behind the attack, which unfolded one week after the attacks on Paris that killed 130 people. A handful of jihadi groups seized the northern half of Mali – a former French colony – in 2012 and were ousted from cities and towns by the French military intervention.

French President Francois Hollande said: “We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali.”

Traore said 10 gunmen had stormed the hotel shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” in Arabic before firing on the guards.

France has 3,500 troops operating in Mali and four other countries in the Sahel region as part of a five-nation counterterrorism operation codenamed Barkhane. The ministry did not specify how many soldiers have been sent to the Malian capital.

Reuters

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