Gunman Killed In Attack On Mali Hotel Hosting EU Mission

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سه شنبه 3 حمل 1395 ساعت 09:36 آخرین به روز رسانی در سه شنبه 3 حمل 1395 ساعت 10:18 نوشته شده توسط AFP

Translations pending.

Gunmen stormed a hotel hosting an EU military training mission in Mali's capital, before one was killed by security guards, the govement and a mission source said.

Four attackers stormed the hotel owned by Mali's Azalai chain at around 18.30 GMT, the EU mission source said, before they escaped under retu fire from security guards.

"Four people tried to force their way through the barricade firing shots," the European Union Training Mission-Mali (EUTM) source told AFP.

"One of the four was neutralized, we are searching for the three others."

Police showed AFP a photo they said was of the dead attacker, who was pictured wearing blue jeans and slumped in a pool of his own blood.

A Malian security source said troops were hunting a possible suicide bomber thought to be "in the vicinity of the EUTM headquarters".

Minister of Inteal Security Salif Traore said two suspects had been arrested and forces were securing the area, in the same upmarket neighborhood as the Radisson Blu hotel where 20 people were killed by jihadists in November.

"One of the attackers was killed... We are checking the bag he was carrying, which could contain explosives, and security forces are also doing their job," he said on television.

"Two suspects were arrested. They are about to be questioned. Operations are continuing on the ground," he said, adding that there were thought to be "two or three" attackers.

The area was cordoned off and armored vehicles belonging to the UN and Malian military were on the scene, where an operation to find the escaped gunmen was still ongoing.

"I heard heavy gunfire behind the hotel. Then Malian troops blocked off the area," a witness told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes at a time of heightened conce about the growing threat from jihadists in west Africa.

An advisor to Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita called for calm and described the situation as "under control". "Security forces are on the front line," he said in a text.

The EU training mission aims to reinforce the Malian army's ability to engage in combat operations as they battle a jihadist insurgency and rampant banditry across vast swathes of the desert nation.

An EU foreign affairs representative said in a statement sent to AFP they were "cooperating with the Malian national authorities to understand the circumstances of this incident and to help find the persons responsible."

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