France deploys special forces to Mali hostage-taking
138 people thought still being held by gunmen who reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as they stormed luxury hotel in Bamako
French special forces have deployed at the luxury hotel in the Malian capital Bamako to assist in ending a mass hostage-taking, the French defense ministry said Friday.
“In response to the request from the Malian authorities, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian decided to send a unit of French special forces,” the ministry said, adding they had come in from Burkina Faso.
The units were “in place from 2:00 pm French time (1300 GMT)”, the ministry said.
US special forces were also helping in the effort to rescue hostages, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
Gunmen were holding 125 guests and 13 employees hostage at the Radisson Blu Hotel, according to the Radisson hotel chain. The gunmen are believed to have entered the 190-room hotel around 0700 GMT in a car with diplomatic plates, before taking guests and staff hostage in a suspected Islamist attack that has left at least three people dead.
Gunmen had seized 170 people, including many foreigners, in a hail of automatic gunfire, exactly a week after the deadly jihadist rampage in Paris.
A terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack, Israel’s Channel 2 television reported Friday afternoon.
Witnesses described “around a dozen” armed assailants. Malian military commander Modibo Naman Traore told The Associated Press that 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” in Arabic before firing on the guards and taking hostages.
Traore said that about 20 hostages were freed Friday morning. It was not immediately clear why the group was freed or how many exactly remained held by the militants.
A US official said Friday that the country’s special forces have helped to rescue “at least six” Americans from the hotel.
“Special Operations Command Forward-North and West Africa personnel are currently assisting hostage recovery efforts at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako,” Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Baldanza said.
“US forces have helped move civilians to secured locations, as Malian forces clear the hotel of hostile gunmen.”
A spokesman for India’s foreign ministry said on Twitter Friday that 20 Indians had also been rescued from inside the hotel.
“Good news! All 20 Indians in the hotel in Bamako have been safely evacuated. Our Ambassador in Mali has confirmed,” Vikas Swarup tweeted.
AP contributed to this report
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