- Gunmen stormed a luxury resort in outside Mali’s capital Bamako
- Five people were killed in the attack
- Security forces rescued 36 people from the resort
- Five militants were killed by the Malian security forces, backed by French troops
Militant Group Linked to Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility
A new alliance of Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least five people.
Mali's Security Ministry said in a statement late on Monday that four of the dead were guests and one was a local soldier who died in the firefight.
Malian Security Forces Kill Five Militants
Malian security forces killed five militants involved in an attack over the weekend on a luxury resort popular with Western expatriates outside Mali's capital Bamako, the security minister said on Monday.
“This was without doubt a terrorist attack,” Security Minister Salif Traore told Radio France International. “The anti-terrorist forces arrived on the scene immediately afterwards. Five terrorists were killed...The operations continued throughout the night.”
Traore added that the militants had some accomplices who had not been killed or detained.
Rescue Ops On
Security forces rescued 36 guests from the resort, a security ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Four gunmen arriving on motorbikes and a car stormed Le Campement Kangaba, near Dougourakoro, to the east of the capital Bamako, a resort that foreign residents visit for weekend breaks. Malian security forces backed by French troops deployed to push them out.
At first we thought they were armed bandits but we know how armed bandits operate, they don’t hold territory, so now we think it is a terrorist attack.Salif Traore, Security Minister
Five Killed in the Attack
Five people were killed in the attack.
Mali's Security Ministry said in a statement late on Monday that four of the dead were guests and one was a local soldier who died in the firefight.
The nationalities of the dead were a French-Malian, a French-Gabonese, a Chinese, a Portuguese and a Malian soldier, the ministry said. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, confirmed that two of the dead were working for its mission there.