Special forces ‘arrest two’ over fatal Mali hotel attack

BAMAKO: Malian special forces arrested two suspects on Thursday over a siege at a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako that left 20 people dead, security sources said yesterday.

“Two suspects linked to the attack last week at the Radisson hotel have just been arrested and they are being interrogated,” one of the sources said.

The identity of the suspects and their alleged role in the jihadist attack on the 190-room Radisson Blu Hotel on Nov 20 was not immediately known.

Another security source said a telephone had led to the capture of the two, but gave no further details.

Armed men held 170 guests and staff in a siege that lasted about nine hours on Nov 20 before Malian and international forces stormed the hotel.

Twenty people were killed, including 14 foreigners, along with two assailants, while nine people were wounded.

Malian Security Minister Salif Traore said on Thursday that there were only two attackers armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

“They opened fire from the entrance of the hotel, in the lobby, the restaurant, various corridors. They fired on people indiscriminately,” he told parliament

The Al-Murabitoun group, an al-Qaeda affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar said on Nov 20 it was behind the deadly raid.

Two days later, another jihadist group from central Mali, the Macina Liberation Front (LWF), also said it was responsible, adding it was carried out by a squad of five, including “three who came out safe and sound”.