Mali Attackers Threaten worldwide Involvement

Mali has announced a three day period of national mourning in response to the Radisson Blu attacks.

The investigation was “following several lines” with no certainty about the number and nationality of the perpetrators of the attacks, which have been claimed by two separate jihadist groups.

The heavily armed Islamic extremists who shot up a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital, killing 19 people, timed their assault for the moment when guards would be the most lax, allowing them to easily blast their way past a five-man security team before turning their weapons on terrified guests, a security guard and witnesses said Saturday. The bodies of only two gunmen were recovered from the scene.

The recording from the Al-Mourabitoun (The Sentinels) group identified the gunmen as Abdel Hakim Al-Ansari and Moadh Al-Ansari, Al-Akhbar said in an article posted online Sunday. The group claimed a similar attack on a hotel in Sevare, a garrison town a couple of hundred kilometers north of Bamako.

At least three Chinese nationals are also known to have died in the attack, which has been condemned by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

France’s Defence Ministry on Monday provided new details of French support during the siege, describing in a statement how 40 French special forces arrived in Bamako at 3 p.m. and helped Malian forces move floor by floor “to flush out the terrorists”.

“The Airline’s Flight Operation Control Center is working with the Embassies of the Russian Federation and France in Mali and a Boeing 737 aircraft is being prepared to fly to Mali to bring our deceased colleagues back home to Russia”, the company said in a statement.

The family of the Israeli educator killed in a terror attack in Mali on Friday said it was “stunned” by his sudden death at the hands of Islamist gunmen in the African country.

In the absence of clear information, analysts have speculated on other potential motives, including an urge to interrupt Mali’s fragile local peace process or a wish by al Qaida to demonstrate its relevance amid high-profile attacks by its competition, the Islamic State group.

Corey-Boulet reported from Abidjan, Ivory Coast.