Mali Hostage Crisis Ends With 27 People Dead (VIDEO)

At WSJ, "Mali Hostage Crisis Ends With 27 People Dead, Including Five Attackers, Military Officials Say":

Soldiers in Mali’s capital shot their way into a Radisson Blu hotel and liberated dozens of captives after a 10-hour siege by Islamist gunmen that left 27 people dead, including five attackers, ending one of the biggest hostage standoffs in recent years.

Troops from France—the former colonial power—and United Nations peacekeepers blocked roads while Malian soldiers with Kalashnikov rifles fought their way to the top floor of the seven-story hotel in Bamako. Inside, five gunmen had been holding 170 hostages, according to officials and witnesses.

Several hours earlier, the gunmen—who witnesses said chanted “Allahu akbar” as they burst into the hotel around dawn—released 30 hostages who said they successfully recited the Islamic profession of faith.

Malian military officials confirmed the death toll early Friday evening without identifying the other 22 people killed. At least one American and one Belgian were among the dead, officials from those countries said.

“When the terrorists understood that we were coming for them, they executed the hostages in their possession,” said one soldier.

Next to him, another soldier had tears streaming down his face. “He just lost his friend,” the first soldier said.

It remained unclear who conducted the attack. Early on, officials feared it was the work of Islamic State allies looking to strike French interests, just a week after the group killed 130 people in Paris.

But those fears didn’t appear to be borne out by early evidence, and Islamic State made no claim of responsibility.

Mali has some half-dozen Islamist groups. For three years, al Qaeda allies here have been waging smaller assaults on police and soldiers on a monthly basis, alongside threats of worse to come.

Just last week, Mali’s most prominent Islamist commander, Iyad Ag Ghaly, called for attacks on French targets, and the Radisson, used by French officials, seems in keeping with that. Linked to al Qaeda, he is on the State Department’s list of specially designated global terrorists. Several al Qaeda-linked accounts on Twitter cheered Friday's attack as a success...

Keep reading.