The assault began with gunmen pulling up at the hotel and shooting their way inside, taking guests and staff hostage.
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The three Chinese people killed were executives with China’s state-owned China Railway Construction Corp, the company said in a statement on its website.
Suspected Islamist militants had seized 170 people hostage in the Radisson Blu hotel in the centre of the capital before the building was stormed by security forces.
The presidency of Mali thanked friendly nations for his or her support and the security forces in reacting to the strikes. “They were gunned down together with 13 other nationals in the hotel restaurant in the first moments of the terror attack”, the ministry said.
The president declared a nationwide state of emergency, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported, without saying where it got the information.
The siege ended after special security forces stormed the hotel freeing the hostages. Tha Mali attack was the latest in a series of deadly raids this year on high-profile targets in the country, which has battled Islamist rebels based in its desert north for years.
“Nowhere in the world are we safe”.
‘Today we have an emergency, ‘ politician Amadou Thiam said.
“The quick intervention of the Malian forces allowed us to avoid the worst”, he said, adding that 17 guests were injured along with three police officers.
The attack came as fears mount over threats a week after 130 people died in the Paris attacks claimed by IS group, which also said it had downed a Russian passenger jet in Egypt on October 31.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a statement that China expressed indignation and strongly condemned the atrocity.
The African country’s northern region was taken over by Islamic extremists after a military coup in 2012, following which a French-led military campaign the following year scattered them across the country.
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Jihadist groups Al Mourabitoun and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack.
