Two people killed and hostages taken during attack on Mali resort popular with foreigners

Reporting from Bamako, Mali —  Suspected jihadis attacked a hotel resort Sunday in Mali’s capital, taking hostages at a spot popular with foreigners on the weekends. More than 30 people managed to escape, though at least two were killed, authorities said.

Moussa Ag Infahi, director of the national police, told the Associated Press that three of the assailants had been killed while a fourth had escaped.

Gunfire first rang out at the Campement Kangaba, on the outskirts of Bamako, in the late afternoon, said a security guard who was working at the time.

Mahamadou Doumbia said a militant on a motorcycle entered the area about 3:40 p.m. and cried “Allah akbar,” or “God is great,” before jumping off and running toward the pool area.

“Then a car with three jihadis entered the resort, and they started to fire their weapons,” he said. “A French soldier who had come for the weekend but had his gun shot and wounded” a jihadi.

Mali’s security minister later issued a statement confirming at least the deaths of two victims, one of whom was a dual French-Gabonese citizen.

As night fell, witnesses saw smoke rising from the Campement Kangaba, which features three swimming pools and is a popular escape from the Malian heat. It was not immediately clear what was burning, although extremists in other attacks have set cars ablaze.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which took place 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.

Sunday’s violence came about a week after the U.S. State Department warned of possible attacks on Western diplomatic missions and other locations in Bamako that Westerners frequent.

A United Nations official said those at the resort when the attack began included people affiliated with the French military mission, as well as the U.N. and European Union missions in the country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Religious extremism in Mali once was limited to northern areas, prompting the French military in 2013 to lead an operation to oust jihadis from power in the major towns in the north. But the militants have continued targeting Malian forces and peacekeepers, making it the deadliest U.N. mission in the world.

There are no French troops based in Bamako, but about 2,000 French troops are based in northern Mali fighting Islamist extremists.

French President Emmanuel Macron was informed about the attack and was following the events carefully, according to an official in his office.

In recent years, the extremists have become even more brazen, attacking sites frequented by Westerners. In March 2015, five people died when militants hit a popular restaurant in the capital. A devastating attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako later that year left 20 dead — six Malians and 14 foreigners.

That attack was jointly claimed by the regional Al Qaeda affiliate and a group known as Al Mourabitoun, which was founded by Moktar Belmoktar after he fell out with Al Qaeda leaders.

In a video released in March, jihadis said those two were joining together along with two Mali-based terrorist groups.

UPDATES:

6 p.m.: This article was updated with the director of the national police saying that three of the assailants were killed while a fourth escaped.

3:10 p.m.: This article was updated with news of at least two deaths and more details about the attack.

This article was originally published at 1:05 p.m.