Gunmen attack hotel in Mali

BAMAKO – Gunmen shouting Islamic slogans attacked a luxury hotel full of foreigners in Mali’s capital Bamako early yesterday morning (late Friday, Philippine time), taking 170 people hostage, a senior security source and the hotel’s operator said.

The raid on the Radisson Blu hotel, which lies just west of the city center near government ministries and diplomatic offices in the former French colony, comes a week after Islamic State (IS) militants killed 129 people in Paris.

The identity of the Bamako gunmen, or the group to which they belong, is not known.

About three hours after the occupation, government forces moved in and were able to free at least 80 of the hostages.

“Radisson hotel attack: special forces launched an operation, first hostages released, about 80,” the state-run ORTM channel said on a scrolling banner, without specifying the source of the information.

“Our special forces have freed hostages and 30 others were able to escape on their own,” Security Minister Salif Traore told AFP.

As of 8:30 p.m., three were reported killed from the incident: two Malians and one French.

Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to al-Qaeda, for most of 2012. Although they were driven out by a French-led military operation, sporadic violence has continued.

The security source said as many as 10 gunmen had stormed the building, firing shots and shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic.

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua said several Chinese tourists were among those trapped inside the building.

The company that runs the hotel, Rezidor Group, said it understood that there were two gunmen.

“According to our information, two people are holding 140 clients and 30 employees,” it said in a statement quoted by the BBC.

A senior member of the hotel’s security detail said two private security guards had been injured in the early stages of the attack, which began at 7 a.m.

Witnesses in the area said police had surrounded the hotel and were blocking roads leading to the neighborhood.