Russian Federation: 6 citizens dead in Mali hotel attack

At least 27 people were reported dead after Malian commandos stormed the Radisson Blu in Bamako with dozens of people inside, many of them foreigners staying at the hotel, which had been seized by gunmen.

Mali has declared a national 10-day state of emergency and three days of mourning after assailants killed 19 hostages at the hotel.

The source said six of the dead were Malian, including one gendarme.

“Terror will not win”, Keita said in a televised address.

A security cordon remained in place around the Radisson and security was also boosted around public buildings and banks and other hotels.

The raid came a week after Islamic State militants killed 130 people in a series of shootings and explosions in Paris, the worst atrocity in Europe in nearly a decade.

The French military operation in Mali in 2013 against Islamic extremists who were holding the northern half of the country was the first of several foreign interventions that Hollande launched as president.

“Everything is being done to follow the tracks” of the suspects, the source said, declining to give further details to avoid compromising the investigation.

Malian special forces assisted by US and French forces fought their way through the hotel, finally ending the siege by killing at least two of the gunmen.

On Sunday, the Massina Liberation Front, which has been blamed for previous attacks in southern Mali, became the third group to claim responsibility for the siege.

“Nowhere in the world is one safe from these barbarians from another time”, Keita said.

“The quick intervention of the Malian forces allowed us to avoid the worst”, he said, adding that 17 guests were injured along with three police officers.

Guinean singer Sekouba Bambino Diabate, who was among the survivors, told AFP the gunmen spoke English among themselves.

They included the general manager and deputy general manager of the firm’s global arm, Zhou Tianxiang and Wang Xuanshang, as well as the general manager of its West Africa branch, Chang Xuehui, a company statement said. France now has about 1,000 troops stationed in Mali, a former colony, as part of a counterterrorism effort.

The attack on the Mali hotel killed six Russians – all employees of the regional airline Volga-Dnepr – prompting Putin to call for a broader confrontation of terrorism that extends beyond IS-controlled territory. Five people were also killed in an assault on a Bamako restaurant in March.