Special forces storm luxury hotel under attack in Mali
Commandos enter Radisson Blu Hotel with hostage situation under way in the capital Bamako.
AJ 20 Nov 2015
People run for cover from the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako on Friday [Reuters] |
Correction:
20/11/2015: An earlier version reported that Nigerian Aliko Dangote had
been in the hotel. That was incorrect. He is not in the hotel.
Malian,
French and US special forces are engaged in a rescue operation at a
five-star hotel in the Malian capital Bamako after gunmen stormed it and
took at least 170 people hostage.
Mali's
state broadcaster reported that 80 of the hostages had been released
with commandos going floor to floor inside the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Later, the company who owns the hotel said in a statement that 125
guests and 13 employees were still in the building.
Officials
told the media that at least three people had been killed, and the
employer of one Belgian local government official told Belga news agency
that he had died in the attack.
US
special forces helped in the rescue of at least six Americans, a
military spokesman told reporters in Washington. Footage also showed
French security forces at the scene and witnesses saw UN troops there
also.
"The
attackers are still inside. We're hearing gunfire from time to time," a
witness outside the Radisson told the Reuters news agency.
Gunman
shouting "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great", earlier on Friday opened
fire outside the luxury hotel in the centre of the capital before
rushing inside it.
Al-Mourabitoun,
an Algeria-based radical group that has had ties to al-Qaeda, claimed
responsibility for the attack later on Friday - a claim that has not yet
been independently confirmed.
Reports said the attackers drove up to the hotel in vehicles bearing diplomatic licence plates, thereby gaining easy access.
"About
10 gunmen arrived early in the morning and shot all the guards in front
of the Radisson," business owner Garba Konate told Al Jazeera.
Another witness said he helped a wounded guard to safety.
"I started hearing gunshots coming from the hotel," said Ibrahim, 28, who works at a cultural centre 40 metres away.
"Soon
after I saw one of the guards running out, injured... The security
guard told me the shooters were so quick that he doesn't even know how
many came in," he told Al Jazeera.
Heavy gunfire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel where security forces had set up a cordon.
A well-known Guinean singer who was in the hotel told Reuters he heard the gunmen speaking English.
"I
heard them say in English 'Did you load it?', 'Let's go'," Sékouba
'Bambino' Diabate, who was freed by Malian security forces, said. "I
wasn't able to see them because in these kinds of situations it's hard."
Idrissa Sangare, a local journalist at the scene, told Al Jazeera that UN officials were holding a function at the hotel.
"There are a lot of injured people inside the hotel, I'm being told - more than 40 people," he said.
Malian security forces evacuate two women from the area surrounding the Radisson Blu hotel on Friday [Habibou Kouyate/AFP]
Sangare
said he saw more than a dozen hostages exiting the Radisson in groups
of two and three. Some witnesses told the media that several hostages
were released by the attackers after reciting verses from the Quran.
About
20 Indian nationals were inside, India's foreign ministry spokesman
Vikas Swarup said in a tweet. And seven Chinese nationals were being
held, state news agency Xinhua said.
Turkish
Airlines staff were also among those captured. The company said in a
statement that six crew members have been freed, but one employee
remained inside the hotel, AP reported.
French
nationals were also among those caught up in the siege, a source in the
French president's office said. Air France tweeted that 12 crew members
who were inside escaped and were safe.
Both the US and French embassies told their citizens to take cover and stay indoors.
France in Mali: protection or control?
Armed
groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal
between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and rival
pro-government armed groups.
Northern
Mali fell in March-April 2012 to al-Qaeda-linked groups long active in
the area, before being taken by a French-led military operation launched
in January 2013.
Despite the peace deal, large swathes of the country remain beyond the control of government forces.
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