Bamako (Mali): West African nation Mali on Friday faced a terrorist attack when Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades stormed the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in capital Bamako.
Security forces swarmed in to free guests floor by floor. United Nations peacekeepers saw some 27 bodies on two separate floors of a luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako that was attacked on Friday, a UN official told a news agency, citing preliminary information.
Special operations forces from America and France assisted Malian troops in the swift response.
An extremist group led by former al-Qaida commander Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility for the hotel siege in the former French colony, which many in France saw as a new assault on their country's interests a week after the Paris attacks.
Earlier, all 20 Indians who were staying at the hotel were evacuated, the External Affairs Ministry said. The Indians who were rescued, work for an Indian business group based in Dubai and have a permanent room in the hotel.
As people ran for their lives near the luxury hotel along a dirt road, the soldiers in full combat gear pointed the way to safety, sometimes escorting civilians with a protective arm around their shoulders.
Within hours, local TV images showed heavily armed troops in what appeared to be a lobby area, apparently led by a white officer. Malian state TV reported that 80 people have been freed.
An extremist group that two years ago split from al-Qaida's North Africa branch and led by Moktar Belmoktar claimed responsibility for the attack, in a recorded statement carried by Al-Jazeera. The group said it wanted fighters freed from Mali's prisons and for attacks against northern Malians to stop.
The jihadist group, known as the Mourabitounes, was formed in 2013 after Belmoktar left al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and fused with a Malian militant group. The statement issued Friday said the Mourabitounes had attacked in coordination with the "Sahara Emirate" affiliated with al-Qaida.
Gunfire continued into the late afternoon. Malian army commander Modibo Nama Traore said operations were continuing and it was not yet confirmed that all hostages are freed.
Malian special forces were freeing hostages "floor by floor," Traore told The Associated Press. Still, Rezidor Hotel, the Brussels-based group that operates the hotel, said hours after the assault began that 125 guests and 13 employees remained in the hotel.
U.S. special forces troops assisted Malian forces in hostage rescue efforts, said Col. Mark Cheadle of the U.S. Army's Africa Command. President Barack Obama said he's monitoring the situation. At least six Americans were evacuated from the hotel but it was unclear how many more may be inside, Cheadle said.
France's national gendarme service said about 40 French special police forces were playing a support role. The French defense ministry said French soldiers have arrived in Bamako to support Malian forces.
The guests at the sprawling, cream-and-pink colored luxury hotel, which has 190 rooms and features a spa, outdoor pool and ballroom, came from many countries. But the attack was perceived by many in France, particularly in the government, as a new attack on French interests.
The French military operation in Mali in 2013 against Islamic extremists who were holding the northern half of the country was the first of several foreign interventions that President Francois Hollande has launched as president. Those interventions have prompted increased threats against France and French interests from Islamic extremist groups from al-Qaida's North African arm to the Islamic State group.
"This could be a strike at important French interests because the French government invested so much military energy in pushing the Islamic rebels out of Mali," said Jens David Ohlin, an international law expert at Cornell University in the United States. "While Mali might not have the same emotional significance to the French as Paris does, it is certainly an important part of the French military strategy."
French President Francois Hollande said: "We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali."
(With inputs from AP)
Major Highlights:
* Two gunmen killed in Mali hotel siege, says Malian military
* Mali hotel gunmen 'holding no more hostages', says the Security Minister
* Eighteen bodies recovered from Mali hotel siege: Foreign Security source
* US special forces help rescue "at least six" Americans in Mali, says US official
* US Special Forces assist in Mali hotel hostage recovery: Pentagon
* 125 guests and 13 staff still held at hotel in Mali, says the hotel group
* Good news! All 20 Indians in the hotel in Bamako have been safely evacuated. Our Ambassador in Mali has confirmed: MEA
* Hostage freed from Mali hotel says he heard attackers speaking English
* Elite French unit heads to Mali amid hostage crisis
* Gunmen moving floor by floor in the Madisson Blu Hotel
* Mali TV sources say 80 hostages have been released from Radisson Blu Hotel
* "#MaliAttack : Acc'g to current info there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our Amb is continuously in touch with them & monitor'g sitn'" tweets , Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup.
* 20 Indians staying in the hotel: External Affairs Ministry
* At least three hostages killed in Bamako hotel siege, says Mali minister.
* Mali hotel gunmen free some hostages, including those able to recite verses of the Koran
* About 20 hostages freed from Bamako hotel seized by gunmen: Mali army commander
* Mali security forces evacuate around a dozen hostages from hotel, says Ministry
* Turkish state media says 6 Turkish Airlines personnel are among hostages in Mali
* Chinese news agency Xinhua says several Chinese people are among those held hostage in Mali hotel by Islamist militants.
After reports of gunfire surfaced on social media, Lt. Col. Diarran Kone, an adviser with Mali's defense ministry, said that it is not yet clear what has happened.
