Two arrested in attack on Mali luxury hotel

Mali security forces said the two men are linked to the attack on the Raddison Blu hotel, a luxury hotel in West Africa known to host politicians and businessmen.

People carry the remains of a person that was slain by gunmen during the recent attacks on the Radisson Blu hotel, during a funeral in Bamako, Mali, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015.

Hours later, Malian commandos entered the hotel and freed 170 hostages that the gunmen had been holding as hostage.

Chief prosecutor Boubacar Sidiki Samake, heading the investigation, said authorities had recovered mobile phones and machine pistols from the bodies of the two militants that will help them understand how the attack was conceived.

The statement identified the two men, both arrested in Bamako, as Seidou Diepkile and Adama Maiga. Security analysts say they could be collaborating.

According to Bloomberg Business, the two suspects are now detained in the Missabougou neighborhood in the city, said the officer in charge of public affairs at the presidency, Modibo Nama Traore.

One of them had been regularly in touch since August, while another sent telephone credit to an attacker, he said. It provided no other details on their background or their potential roles in the attack.

“It’s only after questioning that we will find out if the second suspect sells phone credit or is an accomplice.”

“To force me to talk they poured 40 liters of water in my mouth and over my nostrils, which made it so that I could not breathe anymore”. A French-led United Nations operation has attempted to bring stability to the region, with limited success.

After a March 2012 military coup plunged the country into chaos, Islamist extremists with links to al Qaeda carved out a large portion of northern Mali for themselves.