Gunfire, explosions, two terrorists with 170 hostages at Mali’s Radisson Blu

Gunmen stormed into luxury Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on Friday. At this moment two terrorists are believed to be holding 170 hostages according to a senior security force source and other witnesses in the area.

Gunfire was heard from the hotel early in the morning in what was viewed as an effort to take hostages. Witnesses say that automatic weapon fire could be heard from outside the 190-room luxury hotel that is popular with expats working in Mali.

“It’s all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor,” a security source said.

Police have sealed off the area in a developing situation.

Last August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at another hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.