Malian troops, backed by French and US special forces, entered a Bamako hotel where armed gunmen killed at least 27 people and held a number of staff and guests hostage for several hours on Friday, reports FRANCE 24.
Automatic weapons fire broke out in Bamako at around 7am local time, when gunmen screaming, “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic, stormed the luxury 190-room hotel, taking several hotel guests and staff hostage, according to Malian security officials.
At least 27 people were killed according to UN Peacekeepers who entered the Radisson Blue. A search of the hotel is underway after ministerial adviser Amadou Sangho said that all remaining hostages had been safely taken out of the hotel.
A West African jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda named al-Mourabitoun claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter post. The claim count not be immediately verified.
Malian special forces immediately cordoned off the area and raided the hotel, according FRANCE 24’s Mali correspondent Serge Daniel, reporting from near the besieged hotel. "We saw 15 hostages being escorted out of the hotel by Malian security forces,” said Daniel earlier Friday. By noon, 73 hostages had been freed, according to Mali’s security minister.
French special forces have been at the site since early Friday afternoon, said French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. France had responded to a request by Malian authorities by sending a unit of special forces to assist in the ongoing Bamako hotel Radisson hostage situation, said a defense ministry statement without providing details on the size of the unit.