Friday, 20 November 2015
Mali Attack: 3 Killed as Gunmen Take 170 Hostage in Hotel, 20 Indians in Building
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene along with UN Peacekeepers and French soldiers (AFP Photo)
Bamako:
Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury
Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako today, seizing 170 guests
and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking, the hotel chain said. At least
three hostages have been killed, said Mali's security ministry.
Twenty Indians are among those staying at the hotel and are reported to be safe, the government has said. They work for an Indian business group based in Dubai and have a permanent room in the hotel.
According to local TV reports, 80 hostages have been freed.
Automatic weapons fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel in the city-centre, where security forces have set up a security cordon, an AFP journalist said.
Security sources said the gunmen were "jihadists" who had entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.
"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," one security source told AFP.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, the US-based parent company of Radisson Blu, said two people were holding 170 people hostage.
The company said it was "aware of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today, 20th November 2015. As per our information two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees".
It added in a statement: "Our safety and security teams and our corporate team are in constant contact with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to reinstate safety and security at the hotel."
Attacks despite peace deal
The shooting at the Radisson follows a nearly 24-hour siege and hostage-taking at another hotel in August in the central Malian town of Sevare in which five UN workers were killed, along with four soldiers and four attackers.
Five people, including a French citizen and a Belgian, were also killed in an attack at a restaurant in Bamako in March in the first such incident in the capital.
Islamist groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June
peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and
rival pro-government armed groups.
Northern Mali fell in March-April 2012 to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups long concentrated in the area before being ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013.
Despite the peace deal, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
The website of the Radisson Blu in Bamako says it offers "upscale lodging close to many government offices and business sites", serving as "one of the city's most popular conference venues" with "a stunning 508-square-metre ballroom and meeting rooms".
Radisson Blu, an upscale brand of the Radisson hotel chain, has more than 230 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.
Twenty Indians are among those staying at the hotel and are reported to be safe, the government has said. They work for an Indian business group based in Dubai and have a permanent room in the hotel.
#MaliAttack
: Acc'g to current info there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our
Amb is continuously in touch with them & monitor'g sitn
Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) November 20, 2015
According to local TV reports, 80 hostages have been freed.
Automatic weapons fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel in the city-centre, where security forces have set up a security cordon, an AFP journalist said.
Security sources said the gunmen were "jihadists" who had entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.
"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," one security source told AFP.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, the US-based parent company of Radisson Blu, said two people were holding 170 people hostage.
The company said it was "aware of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today, 20th November 2015. As per our information two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees".
It added in a statement: "Our safety and security teams and our corporate team are in constant contact with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to reinstate safety and security at the hotel."
Attacks despite peace deal
The shooting at the Radisson follows a nearly 24-hour siege and hostage-taking at another hotel in August in the central Malian town of Sevare in which five UN workers were killed, along with four soldiers and four attackers.
Five people, including a French citizen and a Belgian, were also killed in an attack at a restaurant in Bamako in March in the first such incident in the capital.
Northern Mali fell in March-April 2012 to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups long concentrated in the area before being ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013.
Despite the peace deal, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
The website of the Radisson Blu in Bamako says it offers "upscale lodging close to many government offices and business sites", serving as "one of the city's most popular conference venues" with "a stunning 508-square-metre ballroom and meeting rooms".
Radisson Blu, an upscale brand of the Radisson hotel chain, has more than 230 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.
20 Indians among hostages taken at Mali hotel; 3 killed, 80 freed
- Agencies, Bamako |
- Updated: Nov 20, 2015 18:00 IST
People run to flee from the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday. (AP Photo)
Twenty Indian nationals were among the hostages being held at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said on Friday.
“Our ambassador has confirmed that 20 Indians are held hostage at the hotel but they are alive,” he told AFP.
Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the hotel on Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.
The foreign ministry spokesman said on Twitter that the Indian ambassador to Mali was “continuously in touch” with the hostages and monitoring the situation.
Eighty hostages were freed as government special forces moved floor by floor to clear the building, Mali’s state broadcaster and a security source said. “The attackers are still inside. We’re hearing gunfire from time to time,” said a witness outside the hotel.
The gunmen were believed to be jihadists who entered the hotel compound at around 0700 GMT in a car bearing diplomatic plates, according to security sources.
At least three people were killed after men shouting “Allahu Akbar” and armed with guns and grenades stormed the hotel.
#MaliAttack
: Acc'g to current info there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our
Amb is continuously in touch with them & monitor'g sitn
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) November 20, 2015
Any number of Muslim extremist groups could be behind the attack,
which unfolded one week after the attacks on Paris that killed 129
people. A handful of jihadi groups seized the northern half of Mali in
2012 but were ousted from cities and towns by a French military
intervention.Traore said 10 gunmen stormed the hotel before firing on the guards. A staffer at the hotel who gave his name as Tamba Diarra said over the phone that the attackers used grenades in the assault.
The US Embassy in Mali asked citizens to shelter in place amid reports of an “ongoing active shooter operation” at the hotel in Bamako. People in the area ran for their lives along a dirt road as a soldier in full combat gear escorted them to safety.
Some guests were able to escape the hotel. Monique Kouame Affoue Ekonde, an Ivorian, said she and six other people, including a Turkish woman, were escorted out by security forces as the gunmen rushed “toward the fifth or sixth floor.”
“I think they are still there. I’ve left the hotel and I don’t know where to go. I’m tired and in a state of shock,” she said.
Map of Mali locating shooting, hostage-taking at Radisson hotel in Bamako. (AFP)
Citing Chinese diplomats in Mali, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that about 10 Chinese citizens were sheltering inside their hotel rooms. The embassy was in phone contact with them and all were reported safe, according to the report. All are employees of Chinese companies working in Mali.
Five Turkish Airlines personnel are among the freed hostages, Turkey’s state-run news agency said.
The website of the official China Daily newspaper also cited an unidentified witness as saying one Chinese citizen had been rescued.
The UN mission said it was sending security reinforcements and medical aid to the scene. Ambulances were seen rushing to the hotel as a military helicopter flew overhead.
Following a military coup in 2012, Islamic extremists took control of northern Mali, prompting a French-led military intervention in early 2013 that forced the extremists from northern towns and cities, though the north remains insecure and militant attacks have extended farther south this year.
In March masked gunmen shot up a restaurant in Bamako, located in Mali’s south, that is popular with foreigners, killing five people.
About 1,000 French troops remain in the country. The Netherlands also has troops working with the UN mission in Mali. According to the Dutch defence ministry, some 450 Dutch military personnel are taking part in the mission along with four Apache and three Chinook helicopters. Most of the Dutch force is based in Gao, but there are a few officers at the UN mission headquarters in Bamako.
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