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bemildred

(90,061 posts)
Fri Aug 7, 2015, 10:10 AM Aug 2015

Four dead in Mali hotel attack, gun battle raging

BAMAKO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants attacked a hotel in central Mali used by United Nations staff on Friday, killing at least three people and exchanging fire with troops near the building, residents and military sources said.

Smoke rose from the hotel and heavy weapons fire was heard as government forces moved in to dislodge the gunmen, who raided the hotel near the airport in Sevare, around 600 km (400 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako before 8 a.m. (0800 GMT).

The body of a white male victim was visible in front of the hotel, a witness said. Two Malian soldiers were killed and three wounded in the fire-fight and an attacker strapped with explosives was also killed, military spokesman Souleymane Dembele said in a text message.

Dembele said an east European and three other personnel from the MINUSMA U.N. peacekeeping operation were believed to have escaped from the hotel. Nationals from South Africa, France and Ukraine had been in the hotel, he said.

http://www.trust.org/item/20150807112413-k2vlg/

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