TERROR IN MALI
Hotel attack leaves up to 27 dead
France appeared to have been the primary target of another terrorist attack Friday when gunmen stormed a hotel filled with Western visitors in Mali’s capital, killing about 27 people.
The assault on the Radisson Blu in Bamako began at 7 a.m. when 170 guests were present. French commandos were deployed to help local security forces clear the hotel, floor by floor, in a siege that lasted 12 hours.
Two branches of al- Qaida claimed responsibility and the evidence suggested France was the principal target. On Nov. 1, Iyad Ag Ghaly, an alQaida leader in Mali, threatened to kill “French crusaders” in revenge for the “case of Charlie Hebdo and its satirical cartoons offensive to the Prophet.”
France, the former colonial power, sent 4,000 troops to Mali in 2013 to liberate three northern regions from al-Qaida’s control. France still has 1,450 troops in the country and its citizens make up the largest single group of Western expatriates in Bamako.
The attackers arrived at the Radisson in a car with diplomatic licence plates. A witness, who gave his name as Salim, told The Daily Telegraph three gunmen produced their weapons and killed two hotel security guards, causing the rest to flee.
“I saw that there was a chaos situation there. Some people had arrived in a diplomatic car,” said Salim. “When they arrived, the security that was at the hotel fled away and those people got the time to get in the hotel with their weapons.”
Salim was on his way to do some building work at the hotel when the attack began. After seeing the terrorists force their way in, he fled to his home a few hundred metres away.
He described how security forces quickly surrounded the hotel, including soldiers from the French army and paramilitary officers from Mali’s gendarmerie.
The French government confirmed that a special forces unit was sent to Mali from a base in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
“In response to a request by the Malian authorities, the defence minister has decided to send a unit of special forces,” said a statement.
Inside the hotel, the gunmen moved from floor to floor as guests fled in panic. Some people were allowed to leave safely if they could prove they were Muslims by reciting the invocation of faith. Others were shot down in the lobby, in hallways or in their rooms.
American citizens were among those staying at the hotel and the U.S. confirmed that its forces were deployed.
Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, said that American military personnel “have helped move civilians to secure locations”.
Rather than risk a massacre, Malian forces and their French allies appear to have taken a swift decision to enter the hotel. As this happened, scores of people seized their chance to escape, fleeing along the dirt road outside.
By noon, the Malian government confirmed that its troops were inside the premises and clearing the hotel “floor by floor.”
Monique Kouame Affoue Ekonde, a guest from Ivory Coast, said that she fled the building, escorted by security forces, as the gunmen rushed “toward the fifth or sixth floor.”
One man told France 24, a satellite television channel, that he emerged from his room to find bodies in the lobby.
“We were evacuated — there were many people inside the hotel at that stage. I saw corpses in the lobby,” he said. “I hid in my room and there was knocking at my door saying the security forces had arrived and it was over.”
Air France said that a flight crew was staying in the Radisson, but all 12 members were safe. The U.S. authorities said six Americans had been rescued.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported about 10 Chinese citizens took shelter in their rooms, and all were safe. All are employees of Chinese companies working in Mali.
Of the four Belgians registered at the hotel, one, Geoffrey Dieudonné is known to have been killed. He was a government official helping to train the country’s civil service.
One guest who managed to escape, Sekouba Diabate, a Guinean singer, said the attackers spoke English with Nigerian accents.
“I heard them say in English, ‘Did you load it?’, ‘Let’s go,’ ” said Diabate.
English-speaking fighters from Boko Haram, the Nigerian terrorist group, are known to have travelled to Mali to join al-Qaida.
Estimates for the number of gunmen ranged as high as 10. But another witness repeated Salim’s estimate that three attackers had entered the hotel at 7 a.m.
At least two of the gunmen were reported dead, but the authorities declined to say that the incident was over, explaining that the security forces were still engaged in clearing the hotel.
Friday night, two surviving gunmen were believed to be holding out on the upper floors of the hotel — but without any hostages.
François Hollande, the president of France, delivered a statement promising to “stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali”.