The Radisson attack was claimed by Al-Mourabitoun (The Sentinels), an extremist group formed by notorious Algerian militant Moktar Belmoktar, in a statement Friday that said it was carried out in cooperation with al-Qaida’s “Sahara Emirate”.
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Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the deaths of six Russian nationals, employees of the Volga-Dnepr airline.
On Saturday, Traore said Malian security forces were hunting for “more than three” people who may have been involved in the attack.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed in a televised speech that “terror will not win” and described the attackers as having “decided to break with humanity”.
“Nowhere in the world is one safe from these barbarians from another time”, he said, adding that the attackers had “decided to break with humanity”.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua said several Chinese tourists were among those trapped inside the building.
“It’s very scary. It’s as if Bamako has become a war zone”, said local teacher Oumar Keita.
The attack appears to have been well-planned, with guards quoted as saying it was timed at the end of their night shift and they had put their weapons down.
“Once again, this barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge”, he said.
France intervened in the country in January 2013, when al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako after taking control of the north of the country.
By late afternoon on Friday, ministerial adviser Amadou Sangho told the French television station BFMTV that no more hostages were being held. One of the rescued hostages, celebrated Guinean singer Skouba “Bambino” Diabate, said he had overheard two of the assailants speaking in English as they searched the room next to his.
The messages went on to state that a cease-fire and release of the hostages were “predicated on the release of all the imprisoned mujahedeen in the prisons of Mali and the cessation of the aggression against our people in the north and center of Mali”.
The siege ended after special security forces stormed the hotel freeing the hostages.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its offshoot al-Murabitoun have both said they were behind it but a few doubt remains.
For many Malians, the attacks on the hotel were a painful reminder of the instability the former French colony has endured over recent years. One of those killed was an American citizen, the US State Department said without providing additional details.
Guinean singer Sekouba Bambino Diabate, who was among the survivors, told the media the gunmen spoke English among themselves.
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China’s foreign minister Wang Yi and Premier Li Keqiang also condemned the Mali attack, according to separate statements.
