- Title: Al Qaeda-linked group claims deadly attack at Mali resort
- Date: 20th June 2017
- Summary: BAMAKO, MALI (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) ANTI-TERRORISM PROSECUTOR, BOUBACAR SIDIKI SAMAKE, TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTI-TERRORISM PROSECUTOR, BOUBACAR SIDIKI SAMAKE, SAYING: "It’s true at that at the beginning people thought it was an attack by bandits but in view of what happened and the way they continued (the attack) we understood it was a terrorist attack." CAMERAMAN SIDIKI STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTI-TERRORISM PROSECUTOR, BOUBACAR SIDIKI SAMAKE, SAYING: "Five people died. Sadly we deplore the death of Corporal Zani Kassim Traore of the National Guard. A Chinese has died, one Cameroonian, one Portuguese and of a woman from Mali. Apart from the Cameroonian, the four were killed by bullets. The Cameroonian died as a result of contusions that provoked a heart attack." SIDIKI STANDING
- Embargoed: 4th July 2017 02:58
- Keywords: Mali resort attack death
- Location: BAMAKO AND KANGABA RESORT, NEAR DOUGOURAKORO, MALI / INTERNET
- City: BAMAKO AND KANGABA RESORT, NEAR DOUGOURAKORO, MALI / INTERNET
- Country: Mali
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0036LY4N5Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A new alliance of Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda on Monday (June 19) claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least five people at a Mali luxury resort popular with Western expatriates just outside the capital Bamako.
The militants' al-Zallaqa Media Foundation posted a statement on its Telegram channel saying that al-Qaeda's affiliate in Mali, Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, had said the attack bears a message to the "Crusaders" that they will never be safe in the country.
The assailants stormed the hotel on Sunday (June 18) afternoon, opening fire on guests and battling with French and Malian special forces deployed to try to free those trapped inside.
Mali's Anti-Terrorism prosecutor said in interview with Reuters 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 woman from Mali, a Cameroonian, a Chinese, a Portuguese and a Malian soldier, the prosecutor said. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, confirmed that two of the dead were working for its mission there.
Although the attackers succeeded in mounting a lethal assault, security forces backed by French and United Nations troops managed to rescue around 60 residents in two batches on Sunday night, including 13 French citizens and several children. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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