Hunt on for three jihadists in Mali attack

LONDON: Security forces in Mali said they were searching yesterday for three suspects connected with the siege in the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital, Bamako, on Friday.

At least 19 people were killed during the attack. There was confusion about how many people were involved.

An army spokesman, General Modibo Nama Traore, initially said there were 10 insurgents involved, but changed that to two who were killed yesterday morning. This was contradicted by survivors and staff who insisted that more gunmen had been part of the assault team.

Moussa Toure, the hotel’s technical director, said: “There were definitely more than two who took part in the attack. We also have no doubt that they were helped by others to plan this and these people have not been found.”

Papis Doumbiya, who had gone for a meeting at the hotel when gunfire erupted, maintained that “there were at least four of them”.

The attack was the latest bloody episode in a long and vicious conflict in the country. But coming in the wake of the Paris and Beirut attacks and the bombing of the Russian aircraft over Sinai, it was also to highlight how international jihad was seeking to maintain its momentum with “spectacular” missions.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali has declared a 10-day state of emergency and three days of national mourning.

Meanwhile, Belgium said it faced a serious and imminent threat of a Paris-style attack, and kept Brussels on maximum alert yesterday as security forces searched for militants thought to be at large in the capital.

Prime Minister Charles Michel, speaking after a meeting of security chiefs called to review the threat status, said the capital’s metro, universities and schools would be closed today.

For the rest of the country, a threat level of three on a fourtier scale would remain in place, Michel said. Brussels would remain at level four, meaning an attack was imminent, as it has been since Saturday.

“What we fear is an attack similar to the one in Paris, with several individuals who could possibly launch several attacks at the same time in multiple locations,” Michel told a news conference.

Possible targets were malls, shopping streets and public transport, Michel said, adding that the government would boost police and army presence in the capital beyond already high levels.

He said a new evaluation of the situation would be made this afternoon, and that everything was being done to return the city to normal.

Commuters trying to get to work todayare expected to suffer delays as a result of the metro closure – The Independent on Sunday and Reuters