One day after gunmen attacked the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital and killed at least 19 people, the authorities are looking for at least three suspects, in addition to the two who died Friday. He said there was no question of a Paris-like repeat situation post a terror strike.
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The statement came as foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said several Russians were among the dead in Mali.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has also announced three days of mourning.
Malians awoke to a state of emergency after Friday’s assault in downtown Bamako that was claimed by an extremist group formed by notorious Algerian militant Moktar Belmoktar.
The siege began when assailants shouting “God is great!” in Arabic burst into the complex and opened fire on the hotel guards, Traore said earlier on Friday.
“It’s very scary. It’s as if Bamako has become a war zone”, said local teacher Oumar Keita.
A few hostages succeeded in escaping by their own means while the majority of them were rescued by the special forces.
They held 170 people, comprising 130 guests and 30 staff of the hotel, hostage until security forces stormed the hotel to set the captives free.
A United States national was also killed, and US President Barack Obama said the attack was yet another reminder that the “scourge of terrorism” threatened many nations. “These terrorists are a global threat that we need to attack globally”, said politician Amadou Thiam, a vice president of Mali’s parliament.
A few hotel employees reportedly escaped through emergency exits.
Six Russians were killed during the attack, which was claimed by Jihadist Al-Murabitoun extremist group based in northern Mali.
Five people were also killed in an assault on a Bamako restaurant in March.
The UN force took over responsibility for protection in the united states from African and French troops following the principal towns in the north were recaptured in the Islamist militants.
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The militants were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year, but large swaths of Mali remain lawless.
