{"id":35219,"date":"2017-06-19T10:35:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T10:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/mali-attack-two-dead-as-gunmen-storm-tourist\/"},"modified":"2017-06-19T10:35:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T10:35:20","slug":"mali-attack-two-dead-as-gunmen-storm-tourist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/mali-attack-two-dead-as-gunmen-storm-tourist\/","title":{"rendered":"Mali attack: Two dead as gunmen storm tourist resort"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Gunmen have stormed a tourist resort in Mali popular with Westerners and two people are dead, the country’s security minister has said.}<\/p>\n

“It is a jihadist attack. Malian special forces intervened and hostages have been released,” Salif Traore told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately for the moment there are two dead, including a Franco-Gabonese.”
\nThe attack happened at luxury resort Le Campement Kangaba, east of the capital Bamako.<\/p>\n

The minister said four assailants had been killed by security forces.<\/p>\n

“We have recovered the bodies of two attackers who were killed,” said Mr Traore, adding that they were “searching for the bodies of two others”.<\/p>\n

One of them left behind a machine gun and bottles filled with “explosive substances”.<\/p>\n

{{World’s most dangerous peacekeeping mission}}<\/p>\n

The ministry said another two people had been injured, including a civilian.<\/p>\n

A security ministry spokesman told Reuters 32 guests had been rescued from the resort.<\/p>\n

Malian special forces intervened, backed by UN soldiers and troops from a French counter-terrorism force.<\/p>\n

Witness Boubacar Sangare was just outside the compound as the attack unfolded.<\/p>\n

“Westerners were fleeing the encampment while two plainclothes police exchanged fire with the assailants,” he said.<\/p>\n

“There were four national police vehicles and French soldiers in armoured vehicles on the scene.”<\/p>\n

He added that a helicopter was circling overhead.<\/p>\n

The European Union training mission in Mali, EUTMMALI, tweeted that it was aware of the attack and was supporting Malian security forces and assessing the situation.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Bamako had warned of “possible future attacks on Western diplomatic missions, other locations in Bamako that Westerners frequent”.<\/p>\n

BBC correspondent Alex Duval Smith says many expats and wealthy Malians go to Kangaba at weekends, to enjoy the pools, cocktail bar, canoeing facilities, and other activities for children.<\/p>\n

Mali has been fighting a jihadist insurgency for several years, with Islamist fighters roaming the country’s north and centre.<\/p>\n

In November 2015, at least 20 people were killed when gunmen took guests and staff hostage at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.<\/p>\n

Al-Qaeda’s North African arm, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), said it was behind that siege.<\/p>\n

Mali has been in a state of emergency since the Radisson Blu attack. It was extended for a further six months in April.<\/p>\n

The country’s security has gradually worsened since 2013, when French forces repelled allied Islamist and Tuareg rebel fighters from parts of the north.<\/p>\n

French troops and a 10,000-strong force of UN peacekeepers have been battling to stabilise the former French colony.<\/p>\n

\"Mali's<\/figure>\n
\"French<\/figure>\n

Source:BBC <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Gunmen have stormed a tourist resort in Mali popular with Westerners and two people are dead, the country’s security minister has said.} “It is a jihadist attack. Malian special forces intervened and hostages have been released,” Salif Traore told AFP news agency. “Unfortunately for the moment there are two dead, including a Franco-Gabonese.” The attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[249],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-35219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-bbc"],"bylines":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"contributors":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35219"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=35219"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=35219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}