Islamist militants kill 19 in attack on hotel in Mali’s capital

Gunmen entered the hotel on Friday morning, shooting and driving their vehicle through a security barrier, one eyewitness said.

Talking following a crisis cabinet meeting late the state of emergency was declared by Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as three days, as well from midnight on Friday for 10 days.

It has since emerged that the dead includes one American, a 41-year-old development worker, three Chinese visitors described by state media as senior executives, and six Russians who worked for regional airline Volga-Dnepr, Interfax reported.

The area around the Radisson hotel is being sealed off by security forces as they try to assess the situation, an anonymous official told Reuters.

Keita, who vowed in a televised address on the day of the siege that “terror will not win”, visited the site Saturday.

The Mali government and the worldwide community have made great efforts for the rescue operations yet the attackers showed a total disregard for human conscience and committed brutal and inhumane crimes, Hong said.

The attack came as fears are mounting about terrorist threats a week after devastating attacks in Paris that killed 130 people claimed by the Islamic State group, which also said it had downed a Russian passenger jet in Egypt weeks before.

Zhou Tianxiang and Wang Xuanshang, general manager and deputy general manager of the company’s global division, and Chang Xuehui, general manager of its West Africa division, were killed, the statement said.

Islamist violence usually affects Mali’s north, which has been volatile since separatist rebels and later al-Qaeda-affiliated militants took control of the region after a 2012 military coup.

More than 100 other hostages were rescued by Malian forces at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.

“The hostage-taking is over”.

His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday and killed 19 people. Five of the dead were attackers, the soldiers said.

Security forces conducted room-by-room searches amid sporadic gunfire, news reports said.