Mali Arrests Two Suspects Linked To Hotel Attack

An al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the attack in which two militants died.

Malian special forces have arrested (taken in to custody) two men over last week’s attack on a luxurious hotel within the capital in that killed 19 people, in accordance to a press release distributed Friday. morning.

On Wednesday, Mali was set to conclude a three-day period of national mourning for those killed in the assault on the Radisson Blu hotel, the second attack claimed by Islamic extremists in Bamako this year.

Two gunmen held 170 guests and staff hostage until security forces stormed the hotel.

Security analysts say they may be collaborating.

“Two suspects linked to the attack last week at the Radisson hotel have just been arrested and they are being interrogated”, one of the sources told AFP.

One of them had been regularly in touch with one of the gunmen since August while another sent telephone credit to an attacker, he said. France had intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to help restore governmental control following a partial take-over of the country by Islamist group Ansar Dine.

The US embassy in Bamako has warned of possible “further terrorist activity” in the city.

Since the Radisson hotel attack, Malian forces have begun night patrols alongside United Nations forces and searched several private residences as part of a package of emergency measures.

Christophe Monbelli- deputy police commissioner for MINUSMA, Valloir, said on Thursday a team from the FBI had arrived to assist the Malian-directed investigation.