Mali Attack: Gunmen Take 170 Hostages At Bamako Hotel

[hashmander]

 

[mbewane]

Various info I got from french media :

- About 140 people still inside the hotel

- One freed hostage said some assaillants spoke english, "with a nigerian accent" Mali : prise d’otages en cours dans un hôtel de Bamako

- 40 GIGN (french special forces) are flying to Bamako as we speak

 

[Serious]

subs

 

[tstone]

I despise all organized religions but you are flat out lying if you say Islam isn't the worst these days. Jesus Christ...

You do know that Mali, is 95% muslim right. You do know that the French been fighting jihadists in Mali since 2011 at the request of the Mali government with Malian muslim troops right.

 

[cheek100]

 

[FAH1223]

Same sort of thing happened with AlShabaab in Mogadishu a month ago

They posed as AMISOM soldiers with gear from Burundi but shot up the hotel

I hope the victims get out safe

May Allah curse these Boko Haram idiots

 

[mbewane]

One member of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Parliament (French Speaking Belgium) among dead.

Official tally still at 3 dead, read on one FR media that "sources" state 15 casualties (thus uncofirmed as of now).

 

[CHL]

Summary

Here’s how things currently stand:

• Up to 10 gunmen, said to be shouting “Allahu Akbar”, stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in an upmarket area of Mali’s capital, Bamako at 7am on Friday morning. They initially held hostage 140 guests and 30 hotel staff.
• At least three people were killed in the attack. They are said to include two Malian security guards and a French national.
• Some 80 hostages have been freed after security forces entered the hotel. Those who escaped include five Turkish Airline staff and 12 Air France Staff. State TV showed footage of several hostages being freed.
• The UN and France have sent security reinforcement to the scene. France’s president, François Hollande, said everything possible was being done to end the siege.
• Turkish, French, Indian, Chinese and Guinean citizens were staying at the hotel when the attack was launched.
• Mali’s president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, has cut short a visit to Chad to deal with the aftermath of the siege.

Minusma, the UN mission in Mali, has confirmed that it is providing support to the Malian security forces at the hotel.

It was the Guinean singer Sékouba “Bambino” Diabate who heard the attackers speaking English.

He was among the 170 taken hostage in the hotel. Speaking to Reuters he said:

“I heard them say in English ‘Did you load it?’, ‘Let’s go’. I wasn’t able to see them because in these kinds of situations it’s hard.”

Al-Qaida linked group claims responsibility

An African Jihadist group affiliated with al Qaida has claimed responsibility for the ongoing attack, according to Reuters.

Al-Mourabitoun, a group based in northern Mali and made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs, posted a message on Twitter saying it was behind the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel.

The claim could not immediately be verified.

Here’s a bit more information about Al-Mourabitoun, the African jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda which has claimed responsibility for the Mali hotel attack.

Al-Mourabitoun, based in northern Mali, is made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs. It was formed around two years ago and is headed by former al Qaeda fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

The group claimed responsibility for the death of five people last March in an attack on a restaurant in Bamako; a suicide attack on a group of UN peacekeepers in northern Mali in April in which at least three people died; and an attack on a hotel in Sévaré in central Mali in August in which 17 people were killed.

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

Is this still ongoing?


RIP to the victims again.

 

[mbewane]

Is this still ongoing?


RIP to the victims again.

Some sources say that there are no more hostages now, but really not sure about that. Reports of 18 dead.

Edit : seems confirmed that there are no more hostages

 

[ExodusNirvana]

There better be a pray for mali hashtag up soon

Mali is in Africa, zero fukks will be given

 

[mbewane]

27 dead?

 

[Consigliere]

How long until these major corporations have their own private security force to protect their interests?

 

[Futuristic Eskimo]

How long until these major corporations have their own private security force to protect their interests?

This exists already. Its called the United State Armed Forces.

 

[Consigliere]

This exists already. Its called the United State Armed Forces.

US military is already taxed with opening new markets and destabilizing rivals.

I was thinking more along the lines of armed & trained personnel working fulltime at malls, theaters & hotels as opposed to just the security guard w/ a flashlight.