China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday “strongly condemned” the attack by armed jihadists on a hotel in Mali which left three Chinese nationals dead, according to a government statement, among at least 21 killed.
Advertisement
However, the extremist group Al Mourabitoun, led by Algerian militant Moktar Belmoktar and linked to al Qaeda has said it was behind the attack.
Gunmen went on the rampage from the early morning, shooting in the corridors and taking 170 guests and staff hostage.
At least one American, two Belgians, three Chinese and six Russians were among the dead, officials from those countries said.
A total of 27 people have been killed in an attack on the Radisson hotel in Mali’s capital, a United Nations official has revealed.
According to security minister Salif Traore, the attackers “currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down”. French President Francois Hollande said France would “use all the means available to us on the ground to free the hostages”.
The raid on the hotel, which lies just west of the city center near government ministries and diplomatic offices, comes a week after Islamic State militants killed 129 people in Paris.
“Mali will not shut down because of this attack”, Keita said while visiting the scene of the attack.
A member of special forces checks under a vehicle parked outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on November 20, 2015, after the assault of security forces.
He has also that decreed three days of national mourning be observed.
Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, a few with links to al-Qaida, for the majority of 2012.
In 2013, French forces managed to reverse the takeover of much of Mali by Islamist militants.
Advertisement
The terrorists who claimed responsibility for the attack had previous connections to al-Qaeda. However, the attacks continued and extended farther south this year, including an assault on a popular restaurant in the country’s capital.
