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 Friday's assault on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako came a week
after militants killed 130 people in a spate of gun and bomb attacks
in Paris claimed by Islamic State. France on Friday extended a state
of emergency until February as police pursued raids and
investigations, with over 250 people detained.
The bloodshed in Mali, a former French colony, was the latest sign
of the problems faced by French troops and U.N. peacekeepers in
restoring security in a West African state that has battled rebels
and militants in its desert north for years.
The assault on the Radisson Blu hotel, claimed by jihadist groups Al
Mourabitoun and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), ended when
Malian commandos stormed the building and rescued 170 people, many
of them foreigners.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said two militants were killed in
the commando operation.
His government increased security at strategic points around Bamako
at the start of a declared 10-day state of emergency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned the "cruel and savage"
attack, whose dead included three Chinese executives of a state-run
railway firm.
The head of a Bamako hospital told Russian television channel
LifeNews that at least two Russian citizens were killed. RIA news
agency said Russians were among the dead, citing Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Keita and said "the widest
international cooperation" was needed to confront global terrorism,
according to a statement by the Kremlin.
On Tuesday, Putin promised to hunt down Islamist militants
responsible for blowing up a Russian airliner over Egypt on Oct. 31
as well as intensified air strikes against militants in Syria, after
the Kremlin concluded a bomb had destroyed the plane, killing 224
people.
Putin and French President Francois Hollande also spoke by phone on
Tuesday and agreed to boost coordination of their military actions
in fighting jihadist militants in Syria.
One American and a deputy from a regional parliament in Belgium were
also killed in the Bamako hotel attack, though French Defence
Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he was not aware of any French
nationals killed.
 FLEEING IN TERROR
The attack began at 7 a.m. on Friday when gunmen killed guards at
the entrance of the hotel and barged inside.
Malian commandos subsequently stormed the hotel and rescued around
170 people, many of whom had been hiding under beds or in side-rooms
and rushed terrified from the building to safety as shooting
continued inside.
By around 4 p.m. the hotel was secured but Malians woke on Saturday
to a sense of shock at the latest high-profile raid by Islamists
this year.
"I feel bruised by this atrocious act, which cannot be justified. No
nation, no human life deserves such criminal barbarity," said Oumar
Fomba, a teacher. "I urge the Malian government to fight more
fiercely against terrorism."
In a speech on the sidelines of a summit with Asian nations in
Malaysia, U.S. President Barack Obama described the raid in Mali as
"another awful reminder of the scourge of terrorism".
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"Once again, this barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this
challenge. We will stand with the people of Mali as they work to rid
their country of terrorists and strengthen their democracy. With
allies and partners, the United States will be relentless."
SETBACK FOR FRANCE
The attack was another jolting blow to France after the shock of the
Paris carnage. France has stationed 3,500 troops in northern Mali to
try to restore stability after a rebellion in 2012 by ethnic Tuaregs
that was later hijacked by jihadists linked to al Qaeda.
"We (France) have proved to be as blind as the Malian elite. Nothing
changes in Mali. The elite continues to act like it always has as
does the international community," said Laurent Bigot, former
undersecretary in charge of West Africa at France's foreign
ministry, alluding to U.N. peacekeepers.
"People have been ringing the alarm bell for a long time, but it
doesn't do any good," Bigot, who now works as a consultant, told
Reuters.
The attack also cast a spotlight on a veteran leader of Al
Mourabitoun, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a few months after reports, never
confirmed, that he was killed in an air strike.
Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to
al Qaeda, for most of 2012. They were driven out by a French-led
military operation, but violence has continued.
Al Mourabitoun has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks,
including an assault on a hotel in the town of Sevare, 600 km (375
miles) northeast of Bamako, in August in which 17 people including
five U.N. staff were killed.
One of its leaders is Belmokhtar, blamed for a large-scale assault
on an Algerian gas field in 2013 and a major figure in insurgencies
across North Africa.
In the wake of the Paris attacks, an Islamic State militant in Syria
told Reuters the organization viewed France's military intervention
in Mali as another reason to target France and French interests.
"This is just the beginning. We also haven't forgotten what happened
in Mali," said the non-Syrian fighter, who was contacted online by
Reuters. "The bitterness from Mali, the arrogance of the French,
will not be forgotten at all."
(Additional reporting by Joe Penney in Bamako, John Irish in Paris,
Jason Bush in Moscow and Michael Martina in Beijing; Writing by
Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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