Mali special forces arrest 2 over attack on luxury hotel in Mali claimed by Islamic extremists

BAMAKO, Mali – Malian special forces have arrested two men over last week’s attack on a luxury hotel in the capital, according to a statement distributed Friday morning, as the government provided a breakdown by nationality of the 20 people killed in the attack.

The statement identified the suspects as two Malians, both arrested in Bamako, but provided no other details on their background or their potential roles in the operation.

“Questioning of these suspects will shed more light on the motivations of the perpetrators of the sordid terrorist attack perpetrated” at the Radisson Blu hotel on Nov. 20, said the statement sent by army Maj. Modibo Naman Traore.

Two gunmen armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and explosives stormed the hotel before 7 a.m., striking just as security guards were about to change shifts. After shooting four of the five guards, killing one, they fired wildly in the lobby and breakfast dining area before heading to the hotel’s upper floors.

Malian troops, backed by French and American special forces, swarmed in to retake the building and free terrified guests and hotel staff during a siege that lasted more than seven hours.

The gunmen were killed at the scene, and on Monday state media broadcast their photos, asking anyone with information about them to come forward.

Officials had previously said that 19 people were killed in addition to the gunmen, but on Friday Amadou Sangho, spokesman for the interior ministry, said there were 20 victims from seven countries.

Six Malians and six Russians were killed along with three Chinese, two Belgians, one American, one Israeli and one Senegalese, he said.

He declined to provide more details related to the arrests or the ongoing investigation, saying only that officials were studying materials recovered from the scene for clues. A United Nations police official said earlier this week that officials were trying to determine if the assault rifles used in the attack were pillaged from the stocks of the Malian army or had come from outside the country.

The attack has been claimed by the Al-Mourabitoun extremist group, which said it had worked in concert with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The attack was also claimed, however, by the Macina Liberation Front, a group active in central Mali, in co-operation with Ansar Dine militants.

On Sunday, Al-Mourabitoun issued a statement purporting to identify the gunmen, using names suggesting they were Malian, but authorities have yet to confirm their identities.

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Associated Press writers Baba Ahmed in Nairobi, Kenya, and Robbie Corey-Boulet in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, contributed to this report.