The Al-Mourabitoune group of Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility for an operation carried out in conjunction with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
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The guards had just finished the morning prayer and had put their weapons – a shotgun and two pistols – away in their vehicle when the militants struck.
The name of the Israeli that was killed in the Mali terror attack Friday was released for publication by the Foreign Ministry Saturday. Thirteen foreign nationals are confirmed dead.
Heavily-armed attackers shouting “God is great!” in Arabic burst into Radisson Blu in Bamako on Friday, seizing dozens of hostages and sparking an hours-long siege by troops backed by US and French special forces.
“Mali will never be alone”, Mr Sall said.
“The attack was targeting the peace agreement”, said Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, a representative of the Coordination of Azawad Movements.
Agence-France Presse cited two separate police sources, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity, as police widened their net for those responsible for the hostage drama.
“Like the heinous attacks we saw in Paris, and attacks we see all too often elsewhere, this is another bad reminder that the scourge of terrorism threatens so many of our nations”, Obama said.
Bamako’s streets have returned to normal following Friday’s attack despite a state of emergency, which bans all rallies and street protests.
In a message to Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Putin “stressed that the inhuman crime committed in Mali’s capital again confirms that terrorism knows no borders and is a real danger for the whole world”, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Mali was plunged into violence after a military coup in March 2012 left a power vacuum that allowed Islamist militants to join with separatists and seize the north of the country. The three Chinese victims, among the 27 killed, are senior executives of China Railway Construction Corp.
The Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel group that operates the hotel said early on that the assailants had “locked in” 140 guests and 30 employees.
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Twelve Air France flight crew were in the hotel, but all were extracted safely, the French national carrier said. Mali is a former French colony.
