Friday, firing automatic weapons and seizing more than 100 guests and
staff in a hostage-taking that left at least 27 people dead.
Special forces staged a dramatic floor-by-floor rescue at the Radisson
Blu hotel in Bamako, according to local television and security
sources, to end the nine-hour siege.
The assault, which France has said was likely masterminded by
notorious Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, added to fears over
the global jihadist threat a week after the Paris massacre that left
130 people dead.
Malian television broadcast chaotic scenes from inside the hotel as
police and other security personnel ushered bewildered guests along
corridors and across the main lobby.
Malian security sources said at least 27 hostages had been killed,
adding that French special forces had been "participating in
operations alongside Malians".
"The hostage-taking is over.
We are in the process of securing the hotel," a Malian military source
said, as civil protection officers removed the victims in orange body
bags.
Two US special forces troops who happened to be at the nearby US
embassy for meetings assisted in the rescue of six Americans.
France's defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said several countries
had long been searching for Belmokhtar, head of the Al-Murabitoun
group. The one-eyed jihadist is also accused of planning a
hostage-taking at a gas plant in Algeria in 2013, in which dozens of
mostly foreign workers were killed.
"He is likely behind this attack although we are not completely
certain of it," Le Drian told France's TF1 television channel.
The palatial 190-room Radisson, regarded as one of west Africa's best
hotels, attracts entrepreneurs, tourists and government officials from
across the world with its luxury spa, outdoor pool and conference
suites.
Witnesses talked of around a dozen armed assailants, but the Malian
military source reported the deaths of three "terrorists who were shot
or blew themselves up", adding that the total number of gunmen was not
more than four.
– Waving in desperation –
A paramedic said three security guards had been wounded while an AFP
correspondent saw a police officer, who had been shot, being evacuated
by security forces.
An AFP photographer saw a white man appear several times at a window
on the second floor, apparently appealing for help.
A Chinese tourist quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency said the
"smell of smoke spread through the corridors and rooms" and that the
internet was down.
The men are believed to have entered the hotel around 0700 GMT at the
same time as a car with diplomatic plates, with many guests still in
their rooms.
The nationalities of the victims have not yet been revealed, although
a Belgian regional assembly official, in Mali for a convention, was
among those killed, his parliament said.
India said 20 of its nationals were freed while Xinhua said at least
seven Chinese were involved.
Twelve Air France employees were in a "safe place", the company
announced, while seven Turkish Airlines crew members, seven Algerians
and two Germans were also freed.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led international condemnation of the
"horrific terrorist attack" suggesting the violence was aimed at
destroying peace efforts in the country.
– Security questions –
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were at the scene soon
after the attack began, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA
peacekeeping force in Mali and French troops deployed in west Africa
under Operation Barkhane.
Paris said before the rescue it was sending around 40 officers from an
elite French unit of paramilitary police specialised in hostage
situations.
France has more than 1,000 troops in its former colony, a key
battleground of the Barkhane counter-terror mission spanning five
countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.
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