Mali attack linked to al-Qaida cell
Amember of al-Qaida in Africa confirmed Saturday that the attack Friday on a hotel in Bamako, Mali, had been carried out by a jihadi group loyal to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian operative for al-Qaida.
The al-Qaida member, who spoke via an online chat, said an audio message and a similar written statement in which the group claimed responsibility for the attack were authentic. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi groups, also confirmed the authenticity of the statement.
The al-Qaida member, who refused to be named for his protection, said Belmokhtar’s men had collaborated with the Saharan Emirate of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a unit that is active in the Sahara, in and around the desert outpost of Timbuktu, Mali. The cell is led by Yahya Abu Hammam, a longtime member of AQIM who has been responsible for numerous kidnappings of Western citizens in Mali and neighboring countries.
Belmokhtar has been reported killed at least twice in the past year, but U.S. officials concede he is probably still at large.
In the audio recording, the group, known as Al Mourabitoun, says it carried out the operation in conjunction with al-Qai- da’s branch in the Islamic Maghreb. The attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali’s capital, left at least 19 people and two attackers dead. Among the dead were six Russians who worked for an air cargo company, three senior executives of a Chinese state-owned rail construction company and a U.S. public health worker.
The recording was released to the Al-Jazeera network and simultaneously to Al Akhbar, a website in Mauritania that has frequently been used by jihadi groups active in northern Africa.
The messages went on to state that a cease-fire and release of the hostages were “predicated on the release of the all the imprisoned mujahedeen in the prisons of Mali and the cessation of the aggression against our people in the north and center of Mali.”
The attack in Bamako came at a moment when al-Qaida is competing with the Islamic State for recruits in Africa and for supremacy among jihadis on the global stage.
In recent months, Boko Haram, whose leaders had received training from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, cut ties with al-Qaida and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. And the Islamic State has made inroads into al-Shabab, al-Qaida’s affiliate in East Africa, luring a senior leader and several groups of fighters.