Malian special forces have arrested two men they believe are linked to the deadly hotel attack carried out by militants last week, authorities said in a statement Friday. Questioning of the men would shed more light on the attackers’ motives, Maj Modibo Naman Traore said on Friday.
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The early breakfast crowd sipped coffee and picked at croissants in the Radisson Blu’s dining room, swiping through emails and the morning headlines on their smartphones.
The statement identified the suspects as two Malians, both arrested in Bamako, but provided no other details on their background or their potential roles in the operation.
170 Hostages were freed hours after the siege began when Malian commandos stormed the hotel. In the firefight that ensued, two attackers were confirmed to have been killed. Ansar Dine is a militant group in Mali that is reported to have close ties with al-Qaeda. The attackers were reportedly shouting Islamic slogans.
While Mali has certainly had its own problem with terrorists operating in its northern region, the attack raised the question of possible coordinated strikes on allies of the west which present softer targets because of less extensive security and surveillance abilities. Despite the presence of French troops and the United Nations force, the extremists have continued attacks in the north. Extremists have also extended attacks farther south this year, including an assault on a Bamako restaurant/nightclub popular with foreigners in March and a November 20 attack on a luxury hotel in the capital.
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Christophe Monbelli-Valloir, deputy police commissioner for MINUSMA, said on Thursday a team from the FBI had arrived to help the Malian-led investigation.
