18 Dead in Mali Hostage Siege a Week After Paris Carnage

Special forces stormed a luxury hotel in Mali on Friday after gunmen seized guests and staff in a hostage crisis that left at least 18 people dead, a week after the jihadist rampage in Paris.

Many of the 170 hostages initially trapped by the suspected Islamists in the besieged Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital Bamako were foreigners and a Belgian regional assembly official was reported to be among the dead.

About nine hours after the attack began in a hail of automatic gunfire, the country’s security minister said there were no more hostages after Malian special forces backed by U.S. and French troops stormed the building.

“They currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down,” Security Minister Salif Traore told a news conference.

A foreign security source said 18 bodies had been recovered while a Malian military source said two attackers had been killed, but it was not clear if they were among the 18.

U.S. special forces helped rescue at least six Americans from the hotel, while French paramilitary police specialized in hostage situations were also in Mali to assist.

“US forces have helped move civilians to secured locations, as Malian forces clear the hotel of hostile gunmen,” Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Baldanza said.

The State Department said six Americans were recovered from the hotel, adding that the U.S. embassy in the African nation is working to verify the information.

There was no immediate confirmation of any link to the devastating Paris attacks last Friday that left 130 people dead, but Mali has been at the center of French military operations against Islamists in north Africa.

The country’s north fell under the control of Tuareg rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in mid-2012 before they were beaten back by by a French-led operation in early 2013.

The most powerful jihadist groups active in Mali are aligned with al-Qaida rather than Islamic State, which has emerged latterly as the global leader of violent Islamic extremism.

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