27 die as terrorists take over 150 hostages in Mali hotelAll the 20 Indians taken hostage, along with 150 other guests, by gunmen at the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako earlier on Friday day were safely evacuated, the ministry of external affairs said on Friday evening. However, at least 27 people (of other nationalities) were reported dead on Friday after Malian commandos stormed the luxury hotel, Reuters reported late Friday night. The former French colony has been battling Islamist rebels for several years, and the jihadist group Al Mourabitoun, allied to Al Qaeda and based in the deserts of northern Mali, claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet. Some people were freed by the attackers after showing they could recite verses from the Quran, while others were brought out by security forces or managed to escape on their own steam.
The 20 Indians are employees of a Dubai-based company and were staying in the hotel on a permanent basis. “Good news! All 20 Indians in the hotel in Bamako have been safely evacuated. Our ambassador in Mali has confirmed,” the MEA spokesperson tweeted.Gunmen in the West African nation of Mali attacked the luxury hotel in which about 170 guests — 20 of them Indian — and staff had been earlier trapped when initial reports came in. Foreign TV channels had flashed reports of three persons being killed in the attack but the 20 Indians were reported safe right from the beginning.The Indian ambassador had been in touch with the Indian nationals in the hotel and had spoken to them on their cell phones. “According to the current information, there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our ambassador is continuously in touch with them and monitoring the situation,” the MEA spokesperson had said initially.According to news agency reports, gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the Radisson Blu in Bamako, seizing 170 guests and staff in an hostage-taking terror strike, the hotel chain had said. But reports later indicated that Malian security forces launched an operation against the militants.
Just last month Mali had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit its historical city of Timbuktu, which is a cultural heritage site. The ancient city has been facing threats from terrorists who have threatened to blow it up. The President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who had visited New Delhi for the India-Africa Forum Summit last month, had China industrial wipes Suppliers invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Mali during a bilateral meeting and had offered to accompany him to Timbuktu.By late Friday afternoon, Malian ministerial adviser Amadou Sangho told the French television station BFMTV that no more hostages were being held. But a UN official said UN peacekeepers on the scene had seen 27 bodies in a preliminary count, and that a search of the hotel was continuing, according to Reuters. It was not clear whether any of the gunmen, who were said to have dug in on the seventh floor of the hotel as special forces advanced on them, were still active.
The peacekeepers saw 12 dead bodies in the basement of the hotel and another 15 on the second floor, the UN official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He added that the UN troops were still helping Malian authorities search the hotel. A man working for a Belgian regional parliament was among the dead, the Assembly said.[Minister of internal security Colonel Salif Traor said the gunmen had burst through a security barrier at 7 am GMT, spraying the area with gunfire and shouting “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is great”, in Arabic. Occasional bursts of gunfire were heard as the assailants went through the seven-storey building, room-by-room and floor-by-floor, one senior security source and a witness told Reuters.]
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