Mali Hotel Attack: '170 Hostages Seized' in Bamako
Malian troops take up positions outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on 20 November
--The security forces are outside the hotel and blocking roads into the neighbourhood
--Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali's capital, Bamako.
Two people have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees in "a hostage-taking situation", the hotel's owners said in a statement.
Police have surrounded the hotel, which the gunmen entered shooting, and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic, a security source told Reuters.
The US-owned hotel is popular with expats working in Mali.
A Chinese guest told China's state news agency Xinhua via a mobile app that he was among a number of Chinese citizens trapped there.
The security source has told Reuters that some hostages, including those able to recite verses of the Koran, are being freed.
The AFP news agency reports that security forces have escorted two women from besieged hotel.
In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.
I spoke to a gardener at the hotel who was sweeping the yard when the gunmen arrived.
"They were in car with a diplomatic licence plate. They were masked. At the gate of the hotel, the guard stopped them and they start firing. We fled," he said.
Another eyewitness said that it was difficult to say how many attackers there were, he said it could have between five and 13.
"They injured three security guards who were at the gate of the hotel," he said.
"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," a security source told AFP.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces are on the scene along with some UN peacekeeping troops and French soldiers, the agency reports.
The US embassy in Bamako has tweeted that it "is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel".
All US citizens were asked "to shelter in place" and "encouraged to contact their families".
Some reports say about 10 gunmen in total are involved in the attack.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said it was in constant contact "with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to re-instate safety and security at the hotel".
The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French and African troops in July 2013, after the main towns in the north had been supposedly recaptured from the Islamist groups.
US and French Intervention in Mali:
October 2011: Ethnic Tuaregs launch rebellion after returning with arms from Libya
March 2012: Army coup over government's handling of rebellion, a month later Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked fighters seize control of north. The coup leader was trained by the Pentagon
June 2012: Islamist groups capture Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao from Tuaregs, start to destroy Muslim shrines and manuscripts and impose Sharia
January 2013: Islamist fighters capture a central town, raising fears they could reach Bamako. Mali requests French help
July 2013: UN force, now totalling about 12,000, takes over responsibility for securing the north after Islamists routed from towns
July 2014: France launches an operation in the Sahel to stem jihadist groups
Attacks continue in northern desert area, blamed on Tuareg and Islamist groups
2015: Terror attacks in the capital, Bamako, and central Mali
--The security forces are outside the hotel and blocking roads into the neighbourhood
--Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali's capital, Bamako.
Two people have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees in "a hostage-taking situation", the hotel's owners said in a statement.
Police have surrounded the hotel, which the gunmen entered shooting, and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic, a security source told Reuters.
The US-owned hotel is popular with expats working in Mali.
A Chinese guest told China's state news agency Xinhua via a mobile app that he was among a number of Chinese citizens trapped there.
The security source has told Reuters that some hostages, including those able to recite verses of the Koran, are being freed.
The AFP news agency reports that security forces have escorted two women from besieged hotel.
In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.
I spoke to a gardener at the hotel who was sweeping the yard when the gunmen arrived.
"They were in car with a diplomatic licence plate. They were masked. At the gate of the hotel, the guard stopped them and they start firing. We fled," he said.
Another eyewitness said that it was difficult to say how many attackers there were, he said it could have between five and 13.
"They injured three security guards who were at the gate of the hotel," he said.
"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," a security source told AFP.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces are on the scene along with some UN peacekeeping troops and French soldiers, the agency reports.
The US embassy in Bamako has tweeted that it "is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel".
All US citizens were asked "to shelter in place" and "encouraged to contact their families".
Some reports say about 10 gunmen in total are involved in the attack.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said it was in constant contact "with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to re-instate safety and security at the hotel".
The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French and African troops in July 2013, after the main towns in the north had been supposedly recaptured from the Islamist groups.
US and French Intervention in Mali:
October 2011: Ethnic Tuaregs launch rebellion after returning with arms from Libya
March 2012: Army coup over government's handling of rebellion, a month later Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked fighters seize control of north. The coup leader was trained by the Pentagon
June 2012: Islamist groups capture Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao from Tuaregs, start to destroy Muslim shrines and manuscripts and impose Sharia
January 2013: Islamist fighters capture a central town, raising fears they could reach Bamako. Mali requests French help
July 2013: UN force, now totalling about 12,000, takes over responsibility for securing the north after Islamists routed from towns
July 2014: France launches an operation in the Sahel to stem jihadist groups
Attacks continue in northern desert area, blamed on Tuareg and Islamist groups
2015: Terror attacks in the capital, Bamako, and central Mali
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