Mali in mourning after at least 27 killed in hotel attack

The President said on state television that the dead included two gunmen. The government held an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday night and was expected to give an official death toll later.

Malian security sources said 27 out of more than 100 people taken hostage in the raid had died, while at least three “terrorists” were killed or blew themselves up. But the operations were still going on and the hotel had not been totally cleared, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was still underway.

The U.S. State Department said one American was among the dead, though it did not identify the victim out of respect for the family.

Monique Kouame Affoue Ekonde, from Ivory Coast, said she and six other people, including a Turkish woman, were escorted out by security forces as the gunmen rushed toward the fifth or sixth floor. France’s Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he was not aware of any French nationals killed.

Beijing has repeatedly denounced Islamist militants and urged the world to step up coordination in combating Islamic State, though it has been reluctant to get involved on the ground in Syria and Iraq where the group largely operates.

Traore said at least one guest reported the attackers instructed him to recite verses from the Quran before he was allowed to leave. A few reporters say that they are affiliated to an Islamic Extremist Organisation while a few say that they are fluent in English. “The intention was clearly to kill, not to necessarily have people being hostage”.

Twelve Air France (AIRF.PA) flight crew members were in the hotel but all were brought out safely, the French national carrier said.

The president cut short a trip to a regional summit in Chad in the wake of the attack.

French and African military operations dispersed the militants and restored government control over the area.

Around 10 men armed with guns and grenades entered the Radisson Blu at around 7am local time on Friday, shouting and screaming “Allahu Akbar”, which means “God Is great” in Arabic.

“The attack is ongoing”, United Nations spokesman Olivier Salgado said by phone from the capital.

One of its leaders is Belmokhtar, blamed for a large-scale assault on an Algerian gas field in 2013 and a major figure in insurgencies across North Africa. The French and USA embassies confirmed that the attack was under way.

“This is just the beginning”.

“We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali”, Hollande said. “The bitterness from Mali, the arrogance of the French, will not be forgotten at all”.