Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali

<div style="text-align: justify;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQPHbKDc7Fq7kUIj2aQcG6xd6CGHNn-6hfCCKckvNdZpjpSXTEPNcyJOsjkH65Ic4GqEM1CrOYi1yzsk9SR7M31cWWQqZplLTqwW2oa4CyPL4AytdOFYLa4ELQFMQm3K40Vz4LVvOX5I/s1600/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQPHbKDc7Fq7kUIj2aQcG6xd6CGHNn-6hfCCKckvNdZpjpSXTEPNcyJOsjkH65Ic4GqEM1CrOYi1yzsk9SR7M31cWWQqZplLTqwW2oa4CyPL4AytdOFYLa4ELQFMQm3K40Vz4LVvOX5I/s640/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali.jpg" title="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="inline-media__caption"> Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Nov. 20, 2015.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Two gunmen took 170 hostages during an attack at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Those held inside the hotel include 140 guests and 30 employees, Rezidor Hotel Group, owner of the Radisson, said in a statement on its <a href="http://www.rezidor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205430&p=mediaRelease&ID=2114316#sthash.9j6A7Mv5.dpuf" itemprop="StoryLink" itemscope="itemscope" target="_blank" title="Rezidor statement">website</a>. United Nations forces and Malian government troops are at the scene, UN spokesman Olivier Salgado said by phone from the capital. The French and U.S. embassies confirmed that the attack was underway.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “The attack is ongoing,” Salgado said. “What we know is that the attackers are in the hotel and have automatic weapons.” The French embassy reported “explosions and gunshots” at the hotel and advised its citizens to remain at home.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Mali was plunged into violence after a military coup in March 2012 left a power vacuum that allowed Islamist militants to join with separatists and seize northern areas of the country. While French and UN forces pushed the militants out of most of those strongholds in 2013, the government is struggling to regain authority there.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">  </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTar4gkM9zr-kFAfNEQabbGbwBs9TqSNLGZ3hyphenhyphenObOmowjG0lrXoeChvby0OshWmaGdX0lwCYEx_s1Vu5HBOjZ5X9d348VFx1xFRfhlRmVTj51RUUbbdDVELwQVtN-wpcZSpRNSCZt5rs/s1600/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTar4gkM9zr-kFAfNEQabbGbwBs9TqSNLGZ3hyphenhyphenObOmowjG0lrXoeChvby0OshWmaGdX0lwCYEx_s1Vu5HBOjZ5X9d348VFx1xFRfhlRmVTj51RUUbbdDVELwQVtN-wpcZSpRNSCZt5rs/s640/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali+2.jpg" title="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="inline-media__caption"> Security forces near Radisson Blu today</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">  </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLpsqitp1e2ZuvKob-7kT9SMtq428SVmMzS_9q0p1Wb4DuAZI557-8YXtOv2x07U8xoOFmEaobtsfe_zX_9QawGvFtHie7rT4ZqotNHc3u5DmGNiicrBVdpH6F7c_miHrRFQue-f33Is/s1600/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLpsqitp1e2ZuvKob-7kT9SMtq428SVmMzS_9q0p1Wb4DuAZI557-8YXtOv2x07U8xoOFmEaobtsfe_zX_9QawGvFtHie7rT4ZqotNHc3u5DmGNiicrBVdpH6F7c_miHrRFQue-f33Is/s640/Gunmen+Take+170+Hostages+at+Radisson+Blu+Hotel+in+Mali+3.jpg" title="Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Attackers loyal to Islamic State killed 129 people in a series of shootings and explosions in Paris on Nov. 13, in the worst atrocity in Europe in almost a decade.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <a class="bbg-embed" data-align="center" data-embed-id="bbg://iframely/https://twitter.com/VictoriaLIVE/status/667644074074095616" data-type="iframe" href="https://twitter.com/VictoriaLIVE/status/667644074074095616" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/VictoriaLIVE/status/667644074074095616</a></div>

Gunmen Take 170 Hostages at Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali

Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Nov. 20, 2015. Two gunmen took 170 hostages during a...

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