An unknown number of gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel on Friday morning in Bamako, Mali, holding 170 people hostage and killing at least 27 people.
The United States-owned luxury hotel is popular with foreign businesses and airline crews, the BBC reported.
The gunmen, shouting “Allah is great” in Arabic, were also said to have wounded two soldiers, an official of the Malian Army, Gen. Didier Dacko, said in a report.
The Malian Minister of Internal Security, Colonel Salif Traore, also confirmed that the gunmen had burst through a security barrier at 7am, spraying gunfire.
But hours after the hostage lasted, the Malian Army, with the help of the United States and French special forces, entered the hotel and rescued all the hostages, killing two of the attackers.
An al-Qaeda-linked group, Al-Murabiteen, made up of mostly Tuaregs and Arabs, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter post.
A similar group had in March attacked another hotel in southern Mali, killing five tourists, the Voice of America reported.
A Malian official told journalists that Turkish Airlines had six of its personnel trapped in the hotel.
Among the hostages were also French, Nigerian, American and Chinese nationals.
Authorities also said the gunmen arrived at the hotel in a vehicle with diplomatic licence plates.
Though it could not be confirmed whether the attackers had a connection with those who killed about 140 people in Paris last Friday, the attack in Mali underscores the threat posed by Islamist militants around the world, security analysts have said.
The United States-owned luxury hotel is popular with foreign businesses and airline crews, the BBC reported.
The gunmen, shouting “Allah is great” in Arabic, were also said to have wounded two soldiers, an official of the Malian Army, Gen. Didier Dacko, said in a report.
The Malian Minister of Internal Security, Colonel Salif Traore, also confirmed that the gunmen had burst through a security barrier at 7am, spraying gunfire.
But hours after the hostage lasted, the Malian Army, with the help of the United States and French special forces, entered the hotel and rescued all the hostages, killing two of the attackers.
An al-Qaeda-linked group, Al-Murabiteen, made up of mostly Tuaregs and Arabs, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter post.
A similar group had in March attacked another hotel in southern Mali, killing five tourists, the Voice of America reported.
A Malian official told journalists that Turkish Airlines had six of its personnel trapped in the hotel.
Among the hostages were also French, Nigerian, American and Chinese nationals.
Authorities also said the gunmen arrived at the hotel in a vehicle with diplomatic licence plates.
Though it could not be confirmed whether the attackers had a connection with those who killed about 140 people in Paris last Friday, the attack in Mali underscores the threat posed by Islamist militants around the world, security analysts have said.
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