Mali searches for suspects after hotel attack

Cheick Dabo, part of the security team at the Radisson Blu hotel, said Saturday that five guards were present when two gunmen arrived on foot Friday morning at around 7 a.m. He said the guards were armed with two pistols and a shotgun between them but were “not concentrating” and “didn’t expect” the attack.

An extremist group that two years ago split from al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch and led by Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility in a recorded statement carried by Al-Jazeera.

Maj. Modibo Nama Traore said Sunday that the gunmen had grenades and other explosives but did not use them in the course of the more than seven-hour siege that killed 19 people. US President Barack Obama and his Russian and Chinese counterparts Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping all condemned the attack.

Mali has declared a 10-day state of emergency while police search for suspects in connection to the attack.

French President Francois Hollande on Friday pledged “necessary support” to the former French colony, whose porous borders and vast unoccupied areas have allowed Islamic jihadists to infiltrate and plan attacks.

Three days of mourning were announced by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who also clarified the death toll after Malian state television reported late Friday that 27 were dead, along with three attackers.

Mali said more than 100 people were taken hostage in the raid, while at least three “terrorists” were killed or blew themselves up.

He said no new arrests had been made.

The Radisson hotel, located in Mali’s western business district alongside government ministries, was likely a target due to the global clientele it attracts, including foreign diplomats, aid workers and security contractors.

“They’ve penetrated inside the hotel”.

The victims included six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians, an American and a Senegalese.

On Saturday, Traore said Malian security forces were hunting for “more than three” people who may have been involved in the attack.

“The attack was targeting the peace agreement”, said Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, a representative of the Coordination of Azawad Movements, representing groups seeking autonomy, according to the Associated Press.

“Long live Mali.” A security cordon remained in place around the Radisson and security was also boosted around public buildings and banks and other hotels. They were driven out by a French-led military operation, but violence has continued in Bamako and central Mali on the southern reaches of the Sahara.

The Al-Mourabitoun terrorist group, which was reported to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) in May 2015, appears to have reached out to rival Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and another group, the Saharan Emirate of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the report said.