Armed
jihadists have killed at least three people in a deadly shooting
rampage and taken 170 hostages at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako,
Mali. Automatic
weapons fire has been heard on the seventh floor of the 190-room hotel,
where it is thought as many as 12 militants have taken 140 guests and
30 members of staff hostage. Witnesses
described how the gunmen allowed around 20 hostages to leave safely
after they proved they were able to recite verses of the Koran to the
militants.
