BAMAKO, MALI — Gunmen from an al Qaeda linked group who stormed a hotel and took hostages in Mali were still still battling Malian security forces Friday night, though all surviving hostages have escaped. At least 27 people were killed when the gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian Capital Bamako on Friday. At least 170 guests and staff were in the building at the time.
Gunmen arrived at the hotel at 7 a.m. Friday morning in a car with diplomatic plates, then stormed the hotel entrance, firing as they did, CNN reported. Malian special forces entered the hotel and went floor by floor, clearing rooms and fighting the gunmen, eventually isolating them on the top floor. The fighting continued even after all surviving hostages had fled, as security forces tried to dislodge the attackers.
United Nations peacekeepers who entered the hotel told Reuters they saw 27 bodies. A regional assembly in Belgium said one of its members, named as Geoffrey Dieudonne, had been killed in the attack.
Though the gunmen took up to 170 hostages at first, by late afternoon all survivors had escaped. Many foreign embassies reported several of their citizens had escaped from the hotel, which was popular with foreigners and diplomats.
The Guardian reported about 25 American Special Operations personnel and a large number of French military personnel were assisting Malian forces outside the hotel. French GIGN troops trained in hostage rescue also arrived in Bamako on Friday.
Mauritanian Alakhbar news agency reports two militant groups have claimed joint responsibility for the attack, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Mourabitoun.
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