A luxury resort in Mali has come under attack by 'suspected jihadists'
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A luxury resort outside Mali’s capital Bamako came under attack by ‘suspected jihadists’ on Sunday (June 18), the Security Ministry said.
Gunmen stormed Le Campement Kangaba in Dougourakoro, to the east of the capital Bamako, a resort popular with Western expatriates. There were no details of casualties but the attack was continuing on Sunday evening.
“Security forces are in place. Campement Kangaba is blocked off and an operation is under way,” Security Ministry spokesman Baba Cisse said by telephone. “The situation is under control.”
The attack comes nine days after the US state department issued a security message warning of possible attacks in the area.
#Mali- possible future attacks on Western diplomatic missions, other locations in #Bamako that Westerners frequent https://t.co/tllN0t80Vd pic.twitter.com/Erwwbh6mHa
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) June 9, 2017
#Mali #Bamako – This is what Campement #Kangaba, a tourist resort frequented by westerners, looks like. pic.twitter.com/qRYG8VmIsb
— Terror Events (@TerrorEvents) June 18, 2017
Security has gradually worsened in Mali since French forces pushed back allied Islamist and Tuareg rebel fighters in 2013 from swathes of the north they had occupied the previous year.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and another militant group claimed responsibility an attack on a hotel in Mali’s capital in late 2015 in which 20 people were killed.
French troops and a 10,000-strong UN peacekeeping force have battled to stabilise the former French colony and strikes on Malian and Western targets have spread further south and far beyond traditional militant strongholds.
Reuters