Mali hotel hostage stand-off over

Malian authorities are hunting for the assailants in an attack that killed 19 hostages at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Friday.

Six Russians were killed during the attack, which was claimed by Jihadist Al-Murabitoun extremist group based in northern Mali.

The attackers had driven unchallenged into the hotel, opened fire at security guards and then took 170 people hostage.

At least 20 people, including one American, were killed, along with two gunmen, during the more than seven-hour siege, a Malian military commander said. USA and French special forces assisted with the response.

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.

China expressed condolences to the victims and families of those who died in the attack, including three Chinese citizens, Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on a statement on the ministry’s website.

The UN force took over responsibility for protection in the united states from African and French troops following the principal towns in the north were recaptured in the Islamist militants. He added that forces were going from room-to-room, checking for more casualties.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decried the “horrific terrorist attack” and said the violence was aimed at derailing the implementation of a June peace agreement between rival factions. A few reporters say that they are affiliated to an Islamic Extremist Organisation while a few say that they are fluent in English.

In March masked gunmen shot up a Bamako restaurant popular with foreigners, killing five people.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi and Premier Li Keqiang also condemned the Mali attack, according to separate statements.

The raid on the hotel, which lies just west of the city center near government ministries and diplomatic offices, came a week after Islamic State militants killed 129 people in Paris, raising fears that French nationals were being specifically targeted.