U.S. Special Forces, French and Malian Military Free all 170 Hostages
Posted by admin | 8 years ago | 2,370 times
170 hostages held at the Radisson Hotel have been released following a coordinated move by U.S. Special Forces, French and Malian Armies.
According to reports, earlier today, at about 6.20 am, gunmen, chanting God is Great, in Arabic, stormed the hotel, shooting sporadically and held guests and staff hostage.
The unspecified number gunmen, said to be between eight and 13, arrived onboard a diplomatic number plate vehicle, took charge of various floors, especially the 5thand 7th, where the crew of Air France reportedly stayed.
Officials have confirmed that only three local guards were killed in the attack.
At the time of filing this report, the Malian Army Special Forces together with the support of some members of the U.S. Special Forces and of the French Army have already entered the hotel to rescue the hostages.
Currently all hostages have been released by the forces, including 4 US citizen.
Around 11.00 am a vehicle full of weapons, ammunitions and bulletproof vests was discovered not far from Microred, a pharmaceutical company located at 100 meters from the Radisson Hotel.
It has also been confirmed that at least three of the gunmen who seized the Radisson Hotel were killed.
According to the sources of information available, some of the assailants are speaking English and the attack has been claimed by AQIM, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.
Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, narrowly escaped being among the 170 hostages seized in the unfolding hostage drama in the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako.
Dangote reportedly said h was billed to have some meetings there but changed his plan to another location where he subsequently met with the President of Mali and some of his ministers yesterday. After that, he met with the country's Prime Minister at the airport before leaving for Dakar, Senegal yesterday night. Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury hotel, early Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking. in his twitter page, Dangote however assured that he was back in Nigeria and safe.
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