All 20 Indians evacuated from Mali hotel under siege

124 guests, 13 staff still trapped; al Qaeda-affiliate claims attack
Bamako (Mali, Africa) : Malian commandos stormed a luxury hotel in Bamako on Friday after Islamist gunmen took 170 persons, including many foreigners hostage in the capital of the former French colony, which has been battling rebels allied to al-Qaeda for several years.
Dozens of people were reported to have escaped or been freed, but at least three were dead. A security source said the gunmen had dug in on the seventh floor of the hotel as special forces advanced on them.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said 20 Indians, who were trapped inside Mali’s Radisson Blu Hotel, have been evacuated safely.
The Indians, who work for a Dubai-based company, were residing in the hotel permanently, the MEA said. State television showed footage of troops in camouflage fatigues wielding AK47s in the lobby of the Radisson Blu, one of Bamako’s smartest hotels. In the background, a body lay under a brown blanket at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
An African Jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Friday for the attack and ongoing hostage-taking at a business hotel in the Malian capital Bamako.
Al-Mourabitoun, a group based in northern Mali and made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs, posted a message on Twitter saying it was behind the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel, where hostages are still being held.The claim could not immediately be verified.
Minister of Internal Security Colonel Salif Traoré said three persons had been killed and two wounded by the gunmen, who burst through security at the hotel entrance at 7 a.m (0700 GMT), spraying the area with gunfire and shouting “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is great” in Arabic.
Occasional bursts of gunfire were heard as the assailants went through the seven-storey building, room-by-room and floor-by-floor, one senior security source and a witness told Reuters.State television said 80 hostages had left the building by midday, but an hour later the hotel’s website said 124 guests and 13 staff were still inside.
Some people were freed by the attackers after showing they could recite verses from the Koran, while others were brought out by security forces or managed to escape under their own steam.One of the rescued hostages, celebrated Guinean singer Sékouba ‘Bambino’ Diabate, said he had overheard two of the assailants speaking in English as they searched the room next to his.