Two arrested over Mali hotel attack

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Malian special forces have arrested two suspects in connection with the siege at a hotel in the capital Bamako that left 20 people dead, officials say.The suspects’ identity and alleged role in Friday’s attack at the Radisson Blu hotel was not immediately known.

Armed men held 170 guests and staff hostage during the nine-hour siege, killing 20 and wounding 14 before police stormed the building.

A local affiliate of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack.

Malian Security Minister Salif Traore said on Thursday that there were two attackers armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

“They opened fire from the entrance of the hotel, in the lobby, the restaurant, various corridors. They fired on people indiscriminately,” he said.

The Al-Murabitoun group, an al-Qaeda offshoot led by one-eyed Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, said it was responsible for the attack.

Another jihadist group from central Mali, the Macina Liberation Front (LWF), also claimed responsibility, saying there were five attackers and that three escaped.

Neither claim has been verified.

Source BBC

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