No Ghanaian Involved In Mali Attacks- Foreign Ministry

The hotel will reinforce safety and security awareness with staff following the incident on Friday which saw gunmen storm the hotel, shooting guests and taking others hostage.

“They are defendants. Individuals suspected of having connections with the two terrorists (who attacked the resort)”, said a source close to the security ministry.

“We do however wish to make a call to any South Africans living or working in Mali that they need to take all the necessary precautionary measures”, he said.

The Macina Liberation Front, a fledgling Islamist organisation based in southern Mali and operational in the country’s central Mopti governorate and on its frontiers with Burkina Faso and Mauritania has also claimed responsibility.

The Radisson Blu is a favourite of foreign visitors to Mali; six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians, an American, Israeli and a Senegalese citizen were among those killed by the gunmen. She said doing anything more conspicuous to heighten security could raise public fears, when there haven’t been recent domestic attacks to warrant that.

Samake said police hoped to soon “flush out the attackers and bring them to justice”, adding that “it is clear that they had accomplices who helped them come to the hotel”.

Putin, in his condolence message to Keita, said that the atrocious crime reaffirms that terrorism knows no boundaries and is a real danger for the whole world, according to the Tass news agency.

Seventeen people were killed in the August attack on that hotel, which frequented was by staff with the United Nations mission in Mali.

The timing suggested a well-planned operation that analysts say could be an attempt by al-Qaida to assert its relevance amid high-profile attacks by the rival Islamic State group. Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda seized the desert north in 2012 but were scattered by a French military operation a year later.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall, chairman of West Africa’s ECOWAS, said on Sunday that the regional body will discuss possible measures to restrict women wearing burqas in order to enhance regional security.

He said group leader Iyad has been involved in every rebellion in Mali since the 1980s.