Twenty Indians were among the 148 people who were evacuated to safety by the security forces after armed Islamic extremists on Friday stormed Mali’s luxury hotel Radisson Blu locking in 170 people, killing at least 18 of them.
“Good news! All 20 Indians in the hotel in Bamako have been safely evacuated. Our Ambassador in Mali has confirmed,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Friday. He said the Indian nationals are employees of a Dubai-based company and were staying in the hotel permanently.
The Indian Government kept its fingers crossed throughout the day after news of hostage taking broke on Friday morning. Swarup said Indian Ambassador was in touch with the nationals and spoke to them after the gunmen attacked the hotel and killed three persons.
Nine hours after the siege of the Radisson Blu hotel by extremists in a hail of fire from automatic guns, Security Minister Salif Traore announced the end of the hostage crisis after two gunmen were killed by security forces. “They currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down,” Traore told a news conference following the stand-off.
“Eighteen bodies were found,” a Malian foreign security source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that French Special Forces from neighbouring Burkina Faso were in the hotel and “participating in operations alongside Malians”.
Security sources said the jehadis entered the hotel compound around 0700 GMT (12.30 IST) in a car that had diplomatic plates. Many of the guests were in their rooms when the attack began.
According to reports, six American and seven Chinese nationals were among the hostages.
The Turkish Airlines said six of its staff were caught up in the attack. “It’s all happening on the seventh floor, jehadis are firing in the corridor,” a security source said.
Malian soldiers, police and French Special Forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jehadis in west Africa under Operation Barkhane. later Special Forces from the US also joined the operation.
Two freed female hostages --- a Turkish aviation worker and an Ivorian woman who was at the Radisson for an economic conference --- told the media they saw the body of a fair-skinned man lying on the floor of the hotel. A paramedic said three security guards had been wounded, including one who was in a critical condition after being shot. A police officer, who had also been shot, was also evacuated by security forces.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who is in Chad for a summit of leaders from the Sahel region, is cutting his trip short and flying home.
The incident came a week after the deadly terror attack in Paris. Though there was no direct link between the two incidents, Mali has been at the centre of French military operations against Islamists in north Africa.
Mali’s north fell under the control of Tuareg rebels and jehadi groups linked to al-Qaeda in mid-2012 before they were beaten back by a French-led operation in early 2013.