Media reports in Israel said Benalal was 60 years old, and is survived by a wife and three sons. Modibo Nama Traore, describing the hunt for suspects who may have been involved.
Advertisement
Al-Mourabitoun, an African jihadi group affiliated with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility in a message posted on Twitter.
Friday’s assault on the Radisson Blu hotel is the latest in a series of deadly raids this year on high-profile targets in Mali, which has battled Islamist rebels based in its desert north for years. The company identified the victims as Zhou Tianxiang, general manager for the corporation’s worldwide group; Wang Xuanshang, a deputy general manager of the global group; and Chang Xuehui, general manager of the group’s West Africa division.
“We are following several lines, but we won’t be making a statement”, a police source said. “My prayers are with the Datar and Garten families, especially Anita and David’s son”.
The assault, which ended when Malian and worldwide troops stormed the hotel, left 19 people dead as well as two attackers, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said.
The attack was another jolting blow to France after the shock of the Paris carnage. “Nowhere is excluded”, Keita said, adding that Mali would still remain open to the world.
Israel Radio said Shmuel Benalal, an education consultant and executive, was in Bamako advising the Mali government.
The Mali attacks may have been an attempt to take attention away from the Islamic State in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. At that time, the armed forces with the assistance from dozens of United States militaries withdrew hostages from the hotel.
The Telegraph reported that witnesses heard the gunmen screaming “Allahu Akbar” and that the attackers were releasing hostages who were able to recite verses from the Quran, the central book of Islam.
But security sources said Malian forces were in the process of securing the hotel as gunmen were still holding out inside the seven-storey building.
The bodies of six employees of the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr killed in the Malian capital Bamako on Friday will be transported to the Ulyanovsk region in a week, Ulyanovsk region Governor Sergei Morozov said.
Image from a video shows a hostage rushed out of the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali, on November 20.
Bamako’s streets have returned to normal following Friday’s attack despite a state of emergency, which bans all rallies and street protests.
Advertisement
A Malian intelligence agent said a total of 13 foreigners were killed, including six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians, an American and a Senegalese.
