Soldiers deployed near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday, as gunmen took at least 170 people as hostages. Credit Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images / Picture from NEW YORK TIMES
NEW YORK TIMES |
Northern Mali fell under the control of Islamist militants in 2012. A French-led offensive ousted them in 2013, but remnants of the group have staged a number of attacks on United Nations peacekeepers and Malian forces.
The hotel is a popular place for foreigners to stay in Bamako, a city with a population approaching two million, and French and American citizens were among those taken hostage.
A diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Bamako said that eight Chinese business people had been trapped in the hotel as well. Embassy officials at…continue reading
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