Bamako (Mali): Armed Islamist extremists on Friday barged into a luxury hotel here taking 170 people hostage and killing at least 27 of them, while 20 captured Indians were evacuated unharmed.
A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that initial reports from the field indicate that 27 people were killed in the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital town of Mali, a former French colony.
The official said 12 bodies were found in the basement and 15 bodies were found on the second floor of the hotel. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its offshoot al-Murabitoun said they carried out the attack, the BBC reported citing an agency used by jihadists in the region.
Nine hours after the siege of the deluxe hotel by extremists in a hail of fire from automatic guns, security minister Salif Traore announced the end of the hostage crisis after two gunmen were killed by security forces.
“They currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down,” security minister Salif Traore told a news conference. (PTI)
