Gunmen attack luxury hotel in Mali capital, take hostages

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) – The company that runs the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali’s capital says assailants have taken 170 hostages in a brazen assault involving grenades.

The situation was unfolding about a week after the Islamic State staged several attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.

The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said its information said two people had locked in 140 guests and 30 employees, although other media outlets were reporting that up to 10 gunmen could be involved.

“The security forces are trying to dislodge [the attackers] and an exchange of fire can still be heard”, a security official told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

French President Francois Hollande said: “We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali”.

The Radisson Blu is a luxury hotel that is the most secure in the city and is often frequented by foreign businesspeople, United Nations and European Union officials.

Military commander Modibo Naman Traore told The Associated Press that about 20 hostages were freed later in the morning.

The U.S. Embassy in Mali asked citizens to shelter in place amid reports of an “ongoing active shooter operation” at the hotel in Bamako. I’ve left the hotel and I don’t know where to go.

“I started hearing gunshots coming from the hotel”, said Ibrahim, 28, who works at a cultural center 40 meters away.

A few guests also have been able to escape the hotel.

The hotel is part of the Radisson Blu chain, which has upmarket hotels across Europe, Africa and Asia, and is operated by Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, which has headquarters in the USA and Belgium.

In April 2012 the north of Mali, an area known as Azawad, was seized by al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

An Islamist group claimed responsibility for the death of five people last March in an attack on a restaurant in Bamako that is popular with foreigners.

In January 2013 France sent in military intervention and a peace deal was signed between the government and Tuareg rebels in June, leading to jihadists retreating.

In a recording authenticated by Malian authorities this week, a jihadist leader in Mali denounced the peace deal and called for further attacks against France, which is helping national forces fight extremists.

(Malikahere.com via AP). In this image made available by Malikahere.com security personnel, right, attend close to the scene of an attack on a hotel in Bamako, Mali Friday November 20, 2015.