Mali attack: 'Suspected jihadists' storm tourist r
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Posted On: 06/18/2017 3:25:10 PM
Mali attack: 'Suspected jihadists' storm tourist resort Le Campement and 'take hostages' 10 mins ago
A tourist resort popular with Westerners in Mali is under attack by gunmen, according to the country's security services.
The attack is unfolding at Le Campement resort in Dougourakoro, east of the capital of Bamako.
A spokesman for Mali's UN mission said there had been reports of casualties and of hostages taken.
Malian special forces, backed up by French and UN soldiers, have already surrounded the resort and sealed off the area.
Residents nearby said they heard shots being fired, and smoke could be seen rising from the resort, AFP reported.
"Security forces are in place. Campement Kangaba is blocked off and an operation is under way," security ministry spokesman Baba Cisse said. "The situation is under control."
Security has gradually worsened in Mali, a former French colony, since French forces pushed back allied Islamist and Tuareg rebel fighters in 2013 from swathes of the north they had occupied the previous year.
It is not the first suspected terror attack to hit Mali.
At least 20 people were killed in 2015 when gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu in Bamako, taking hostages. Al-Qaeda's North African wing claimed responsibility for that attack.
A tourist resort popular with Westerners in Mali is under attack by gunmen, according to the country's security services.
The attack is unfolding at Le Campement resort in Dougourakoro, east of the capital of Bamako.
A spokesman for Mali's UN mission said there had been reports of casualties and of hostages taken.
Malian special forces, backed up by French and UN soldiers, have already surrounded the resort and sealed off the area.
Residents nearby said they heard shots being fired, and smoke could be seen rising from the resort, AFP reported.
"Security forces are in place. Campement Kangaba is blocked off and an operation is under way," security ministry spokesman Baba Cisse said. "The situation is under control."
Security has gradually worsened in Mali, a former French colony, since French forces pushed back allied Islamist and Tuareg rebel fighters in 2013 from swathes of the north they had occupied the previous year.
It is not the first suspected terror attack to hit Mali.
At least 20 people were killed in 2015 when gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu in Bamako, taking hostages. Al-Qaeda's North African wing claimed responsibility for that attack.
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