20 Indians staying in hotel taken hostage by militants in Mali hotel

As many as 20 Indians are among the 170 guests and staff inside the luxury hotel which is under the seize of gunmen in Mali's capital Bamako. MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the Indian Ambassador in Mali was in touch with the nationals and spoke to them, indicating that they were safe so far.

"According to the current information, there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our Ambassador is continuously in touch with them and monitoring the situation," the spokesperson said.

These nationals are employees of a Dubai-based company and were staying in the Radisson Blue hotel in Bamako permanently, he added. Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, seizing as many as 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking, the hotel chain had said.

#MaliAttack : Acc'g to current info there are 20 Indians staying in the hotel. Our Amb is continuously in touch with them & monitor'g sitn

— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) November 20,

2015

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Delhi that Paris is doing everything possible to solve Mali crisis that unfolded exactly one week after the attacks on Paris that killed 129 people. When Fabius met the Prime Minister Modi strongly condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and conveyed his deepest condolences at the loss of innocent lives in the attacks. Prime Minister reiterated the importance that India attached to strategic partnership with France.

US and French military forces have entered the Hotel. The troops with special Malian soldiers are moving room to room and taking guests out of the hotel in the city center, a United Nations official said. As many as 30 hostages have been freed, the Associated Press reported, citing Modibo Naman Traore, a military commander.

The company that runs the hotel, Rezidor Group, said it understood that there were two gunmen.

"According to our information, two people are holding 140 clients and 30 employees," it said in a statement quoted by the BBC.

A senior member of the hotel's security detail said two private security guards had been injured in the early stages of the attack, which began at 7 a.m. (0700 GMT).

Witnesses in the area said police had surrounded the hotel and were blocking roads leading into the neighbourhood.

The US Embassy tweeted that it was "aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel," and instructed its citizens to stay indoors.

An Islamist group claimed responsibility for the death of five people last March in an attack on a restaurant in Bamako that is popular with foreigners.