Jihadists
kill three as they go 'floor to floor' screaming 'Allahu Akbar' during
AK-47 rampage at Mali hotel and take 170 hostages before freeing those
who could recite the Koran
*Radison Blu hotel under attack by jihadists armed with AK-47s and hand grenades in Malian capital of Bamako *Up to 10 gunmen have taken dozens of hostages inside the Radisson hotel while 80 people have escaped unharmed *Gunmen spoke in English and tested hostages' knowledge of the Koran before allowing Muslim hostages to leave *U.S. government employees are reportedly among the terrified hostages trapped inside the Radisson Blu hotel *US Special Forces lead elite operation to clear the building one floor at a time amid deadly hostage crisis *At
least three people have been killed including one French national and
US embassy have urged American nationals to 'shelter in place' from
attack
Armed
jihadists have killed at least three people in a deadly shooting
rampage and taken 170 hostages at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako,
Mali. Automatic weapons fire has been heard on the seventh floor of
the 190-room hotel, where it is thought as many as 10 militants have
been going floor to floor and taken 140 guests and 30 members of staff
hostage.
Witnesses described how the gunmen allowed around 20
hostages to leave safely after they proved they were able to recite
verses of the Koran to the militants. US and French Special Forces have reportedly stormed the hotel and have began to clear the building one floor at a time. No
group has claimed responsibility for the hotel attack, which is
frequently used by Air France crew, although Al Qaeda affiliated
militants have previously carried out attacks in Mali.
Two
Malians and one French national have been killed while two workers for
Turkish Airlines and 10 Chinese nationals are thought to be among the
hostages.
12 members of the Air France crew have been released
from the hotel following a raid by Malian special forces while five
other Turkish Airlines employees have managed to escape from the hotel,
Turkish officials confirmed. 'The whole of the Air France team is now
in a safe place,' an Air France statement said, indicating it was in
'constant contact' with its team of two pilots and 10 cabin crew
members.
US Special Forces have reportedly been assisting with
the rescue operation to clear the building of hostages and take out the
armed jihadis. The French intelligence service has also been
providing invaluable logistical support for the operation and have
confirmed they have dispatched a unit of special forces to Bamako.
The Rezidor Hotel Group confirmed it is 'aware of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today.' 'As per our information, two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees,' the statement said. 'Our
safety and security teams and our corporate team are in constant
contact with the local authorities in order to offer any support
possible to re-instate safety and security at the hotel,' it added. The
US embassy in Bamako has urged embassy staff to seek cover from the
attack, tweeting that all Americans in Mali should 'shelter in place'. Malian
Special Forces have been seen outside the hotel and are assessing the
situation while France's national security service have confirmed that
about 40 members of the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group
are en route to Bamako. A spokesman for the service said they are
heading from two different units of special police forces trained for
emergency situations. British Special Forces are in Mali and also
expected to head towards Bamako to help with the terror operation. Michael
Skapoullis, who escaped the besieged hotel today, told the BBC: 'We
live in a complex near the Radisson hotel. Every day I go to the
[Radisson] gym from 6 to 8 in th emorning. 'Today, after 7-ish, it was extremely quiet, there were two people inside the gym. They left and I was a bit worried. 'We had the music on all the time at the gym so I didn't hear any gunshots. I left the gym and I tried to go in the lobby. 'I
opened the lobby door slowly, slowly, and I saw bullets on the ground.
So I closed the door of the lobby and I went door to door, I went back
in the gym, and from the gym I left the hotel. 'Outside the hotel, there were police and military crew who escorted me and brought me to my house.'
The horrific terror attacks comes just a few days after ISIS gunmen massacred 129 people on the streets of Paris. Suicide
bombers targeted the Stade de France, cafes and restaurants as well as
taking dozens of hostages at a death metal concert at the Bataclan
theatre. The co-ordinated attack was later claimed by ISIS, leading
to a mass police hunt for one of the surviving gunmen and the ringleader
of the deadly attack. Fears remain that the attack in Bamako may be
linked or inspired by the Paris attack, where French nationals were
targeted for the government's decision to carry out air strikes against
ISIS. French president Francois Hollande says France is ready to help
Mali with all means necessary in the wake of the hotel attack in the
capital, Bamako. Hollande asks all French citizens in Mali to make
contact with the French Embassy there 'in order that everything is made
to offer them protection.' 'We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali,' Mr Hollande said in a short statement. In
Belgium, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said there were four Belgians
registered at the attacked hotel but it's unclear if they were taken
hostage by the gunmen or not. Reynders also said there are '15 hostages who have been freed after an intervention' but didn't provide more details. In
response to the terror attack in Bamako, Mali's President Ibrahim
Boubacar Keita has cut short its tip to Chad where he was attending a
meeting of regional leaders. The Mali presidency said on Twitter that Mr Keita will be back to Bamako 'in the next hours'.
Mali, a former colony of France, has been battling several terror groups, predominantly located in the north of the country. French
special forces have been assisting the Malian army in their long
standing counter-terrorism operation against militants from Ansar
ad-Din, al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Tuareg rebels. The shooting in
Mali follows a nearly 24-hour siege and hostage-taking at another hotel
in August in the central Malian town of Sevare. Four soldiers, five
UN workers and four attackers were killed in the deadly attack, thought
to have been carried out by Al-Qaeda linked militants. Islamist
groups have been waging attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal
between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and rival
pro-government armed groups. Northern Mali fell in March-April 2012
to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups long concentrated in the area before
being ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in
January 2013. Despite the peace deal, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
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