Mali battles gunmen in capital as Islamists hit Iraq, Yemen

Despite French intervention two years ago, the West African country continues to see terror attacks.

The raid on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, which lies just west of the city centre near government ministries and diplomatic offices, comes a week after Islamic State militants killed 129 people in Paris.

The identity of the Bamako gunmen, or the group to which they belong, is not known. One security source said as many as 10 gunmen had stormed the building, although the company that runs the hotel, Rezidor Group, said it understood that there were only two attackers.

The hotel’s head of security, Seydou Dembele, said two private security guards had been shot in the legs in the early stages of the assault. “We saw two of the attackers. One was wearing a balaclava. The other was black-skinned. They forced the first barrier,” Mr. Dembele told Reuters.

Within minutes of the assault, police and then soldiers had surrounded the hotel and were blocking roads leading into the neighbourhood.