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| Mali hotel attacked by gunmen in Bamako | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali's capital, Bamako. | |
| "Apparently it's an attempt to take hostages. The police are there and are sealing off the area," a security source told Reuters news agency. | "Apparently it's an attempt to take hostages. The police are there and are sealing off the area," a security source told Reuters news agency. |
| Automatic weapon fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel, AFP reports. | Automatic weapon fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel, AFP reports. |
| BBC Afrique's Abdourahmane Dia says the US-owned hotel is popular with expats working in Mali. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in the country after al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako in January 2013 after taking control of the north of the country. | |
| 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". | |
| "It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," a security source told AFP. | |
| Witnesses say the police have surrounded the hotel and are blocking roads leading into the neighbourhood. | |
| The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said it was 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," AFP quotes its statement as saying. | |
| The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French troops in July 2013. | |
| Militancy in Mali |