was quite brutal. number of people killed in that. that was a tribute to an offshoot of the al qaeda and islamic maghreb group. this stemmed from march in 2012 essentially islamic rebels took advantage of a chaotic situation in the north of the country after a military coup, they carved out a northern section of mali and called it until their own and wasn t until france and u.n. peacekeepers went into that part of the country and took control of it that they were able to establish what normally again. you ve seen a number of attacks like, this mostly directed at foreigners, oftentimes directed specifically at french nationals. and do we have any indication this offshoot of al qaeda may have played a role in this attack. we have no idea. as far as we know gunshots rang out at the upstale resort to the east of bamako, the capital of
of at least 20 citizens. they have marked the original bullet holes in the wall. many people killed here tried tragically to get away to the service elevator. also further up on the fourth floor where the hostages were killed. reporter: the united nations has been pushing for joint controls in the capital for years. but politically it was perhaps too sensitive for malian politicians, but not now, not after the attack. malian patrols right in the heart of bamako, the heart of the country. they are used to patrolling in other areas but now the threat has come here. they re chasing possible leads. random checkpoints on a road just outside the city come up with very little. for years, terror struck in mali s remote interior, now the capital for longer a shelter.
france has confirmed that three hostages have been killed. one of them a french citizen. the whole incident started when a group of gunmen, it s undetermined at the moment, whether it was two or twelve, quite a lot of gunmen walked into or ran into the radisson blu hotel in the center of bamako, that s the capital of mali, they were firing automatic weapons, and here s the thing. they were shouting allah akbar as they ran into the hotel, firing indiscriminately. they went up the floors of the hotel, and as they got to the seventh floor they were letting off grenades and firing down the corridors according to witnesses. to the 20 the original hostages that were freed before the military action were freed after they that was 20 hostages were freed after they could recite the koran. france is, indeed, providing logistics and intelligence support. the u.n. is providing security and special forces. and the malian president has cut
this hotel, air france said they have crews there. they accounted for them, they re safe. this would be the nicest international brand hotel in the city of bamako, the capital of the country. you can watch complete coverage of the terror attacks tonight with erin burnett on outfront at 7:00 p.m. eastern. heated rhetoric over syrian refugees. i ll talk to one lawmaker, a democrat, who voted yes on a bill that would make it tougher for refugees to settle in america. d plans yet? it s easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you ll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. diis critical for brain health?n brain food, hmmm. ensure has b vitamins that help support brain health
hi, everybody. good evening once again. live from paris. i m thomas roberts. we continue our breaking news coverage and starting this hour with the very latest on what we have been covering all day, those attacks that happened in mali at a luxury hotel in the city of bamako. at this hour, we can tell you there s no reports of hostages left inside that hotel. now, according to the receptionist at that hotel police and armed forces are now checking every room. going from space to staios clearing it for any gunmen or anyone involved in this attack being left behind. for the very latest, my colleague ayman mohyeldin following this from brussels today. what more do we know from exactly why this happened, why this group targeted that hotel? have we found out from sources