People flee from the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015
Gunmen shouting "God is great" took over a luxury hotel and seized 170 hostages in the African country of Mali on Friday.
The Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, the capital of Mali, is popular with international visitors. Officials say U.N. and Malian troops have surrounded the hotel. The roads leading to the hotel have been sealed off. Mali has urged its residents to stay where they are and not venture out during the hotel siege.
Authorities say the gunmen rode up to the hotel in a vehicle with diplomatic license plates. A security source said the gunmen are on the seventh floor of the hotel. "Jihadists are firing in the corridor," the source told AFP, the French news agency.
AFP reports two women were released, while Reuters says the gunmen released hostages who were able to recite verses from the Quran.
Turkish Airlines says six of its personnel are trapped in the hotel. French, Nigerian and Chinese nationals are also among those being held hostage.
The U.S. embassy in Mali said ((in a statement)) Friday "The Embassy is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel." The embassy urged all U.S. citizens and the embassy staff to "shelter in place."
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is.in Malaysia, has been briefed on the hostage situation in Mali and has asked his staff to keep him up to-date on developments.
The attack in Mali underscores the threat posed by Islamist militants who remain active in northern and central Mali despite the presence of U.N. peacekeepers.
A French-led military force ousted Islamist groups from power in northern Mali in 2013. The groups had seized power in the north after a military coup in Bamako in 2012.
An attack in the capital in March on a restaurant popular with tourists killed five people.
Written by Christopher Jones-Cruise.
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