New terrorist attack as gunmen hold 170 hostages in Mali Radisson hotel where French troops are stationed.
Nov 20, 2015 05:22:36 #
One week on from Paris attacks, 10 gunman are believed to be inside the hotel and have used grenades. Follow all the latest news from Mali, Paris and the rest of Europe as police continue hunt for terror suspects.
Some analysis of the situation in Mali
Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg writes: Mali is still struggling to get back on its feet after a French-led intervention force in Jaunary 2013 drove al-Qaeda backed jihadists out of large swathes of the country's north they had taken over the previous year.
Boubacar Keita, the Malian president, was in France last month appealing for the international community to continue its support after the drawndown of forces in 2013.
In June this year, Keita signed a peace deal with Tuareg separatists in the north which granted them widespread autonomy, but central government is still struggling to control the north where porous borders and an unemployed youth have allowed an illicit trade in drugs and weapons to proliferate.
There are now questions about how long the French, who still have 1,300 troops in Mali, will allow the hotel siege to continue before intervening. German also has troops in Mali since it is particpating in an EU military training mission in the south.
10:12
Foreign Office looking into whether Britons are caught up in Mali attack
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: We are in contact with local authorities and urgently seeking further information following reports of an incident at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Mali for some time.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua said several Chinese tourists were among those trapped inside the building.
freed from siege hotel if they can recite Qur'an verses
Security sources are reporting that some gunmen at the Mali hotel are freeing hostages who are able to recite verses of the Qur'an.
Two women have been escorted from the besieged Bamako hotel.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12006988/Mali-Bamako-terrorist-attack-170-hostages-live.html
Some analysis of the situation in Mali
Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg writes: Mali is still struggling to get back on its feet after a French-led intervention force in Jaunary 2013 drove al-Qaeda backed jihadists out of large swathes of the country's north they had taken over the previous year.
Boubacar Keita, the Malian president, was in France last month appealing for the international community to continue its support after the drawndown of forces in 2013.
In June this year, Keita signed a peace deal with Tuareg separatists in the north which granted them widespread autonomy, but central government is still struggling to control the north where porous borders and an unemployed youth have allowed an illicit trade in drugs and weapons to proliferate.
There are now questions about how long the French, who still have 1,300 troops in Mali, will allow the hotel siege to continue before intervening. German also has troops in Mali since it is particpating in an EU military training mission in the south.
10:12
Foreign Office looking into whether Britons are caught up in Mali attack
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: We are in contact with local authorities and urgently seeking further information following reports of an incident at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali
The Foreign Office has advised against all travel to Mali for some time.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua said several Chinese tourists were among those trapped inside the building.
freed from siege hotel if they can recite Qur'an verses
Security sources are reporting that some gunmen at the Mali hotel are freeing hostages who are able to recite verses of the Qur'an.
Two women have been escorted from the besieged Bamako hotel.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12006988/Mali-Bamako-terrorist-attack-170-hostages-live.html
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