Suspected
jihadists in the West African country of Mali attacked a luxury resort popular
with foreigners on the outskirts of the country's capital Sunday, killing at
least
two people.
two people.
The assault
continued into the evening and there were believed to be hostages in the luxury
Campement de Kangaba resort area near Bamako Sunday.
Residents
living near the resort said that shots were fired and smoke could be seen in
the air.
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"I
heard gunfire coming from the camp and I saw people running out of the tourist
site," said Modibo Diarra, who lives nearby. "I learned that it was a
terrorist attack."
Malian
soldiers succeeded in entering the site, according to Commandant Modibo Traore,
a spokesman for the Malian special forces in the former French colony.
"The
operation is ongoing and we estimate that there are between three and four
assailants," he said.
As night
fell, witnesses saw smoke rising from the resort, which features three swimming
pools and is a popular escape from the Malian heat. It was not immediately
clear what was burning, although jihadists in other attacks have set cars
ablaze.
There was no
immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came amid the final
week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In predominantly Muslim Mali, people
have been fasting from sunrise to sundown for three weeks.
Baba Cisse,
a spokesman for Mali's security ministry, confirmed that one of those killed
was a "French-Gabonese citizen." The other victim's nationality was
not immediately released.
@MarkCollyerReal I am at your villa near Bamako in #Mali there is something bad happening outside pray for us its terrible
A United
Nations official told the Associated Press those at the resort when the attack
began included people affiliated with the French military mission as well as
the U.N.
The French
president's office, the defense minister's office and the French military would
not comment immediately on the attack or on media reports saying that French
forces are intervening.
The French
Foreign Ministry would not say whether any French citizens were hurt or
otherwise involved in the attack in the West African country.
French
military spokesman Col. Patrik Steiger said he had "strictly no information"
about French military involvement in the incident in Bamako. He said there are
no French troops based in Bamako, but about 2,000 French troops based in
northern Mali fighting Islamic extremists.
France
intervened in Mali in 2013 to oust Islamic extremists who had seized control of
the major northern towns the year before. While the militants were officially
ousted, they have continued to launch regular attacks on U.N. peacekeeping and
Malian military sites.
Sunday's
violence came about a week after the U.S. State Department warned of
"possible future attacks on Western diplomatic missions, other locations
in Bamako that Westerners frequent."
Religious
extremism in Mali once was limited to northern areas, although in recent years
the jihadists have spread violence farther south, including a devastating
attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako in November 2015. That attack left
20 dead -- six Malians and 14 foreigners.
AP/FOX NEWS
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