Gunmen attacked a five-star hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako today and are presently holding 170 hostages, witnesses said.
Attackers shouting “Allahu Akbar” opened fire outside the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of the capital before storming it.
Automatic weapon fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel where security forces set up a security cordon.
Speaking
to Al Jazeera by phone from Bamako, business owner Garba Konate said a
group of attackers showed up about three hours earlier.
“About 10 gunmen arrived early in the morning and shot all the guards in front of the Radisson,” Konate said.
“I
started hearing gunshots coming from the hotel,” said Ibrahim, 28, who
works at a cultural centre 40 metres away from the hotel.
“Soon
after I saw one of the guards running out, injured… The security guard
told me the shooters were so quick that he doesn’t even know how many
came in,” he told Al Jazeera.
The hotel’s owner said it “is aware
of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today… As per
our information two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees,”
the company said in a statement.
The shooting follows a 24-hour
siege and hostage-taking situation at another hotel in August in the
central Malian town of Sevare.
Four soldiers, five UN workers, and four attackers were killed in that attack.
One of the guests reportedly staying at the hotel is Nigerian Aliko Dangote – the richest person in Africa but he has since denied the claims.
He was truy in Mali yesterday but he is now back in Lagos and is presently in his office!