MSNBC: Islamic Terrorists Attack Luxury Hotel in Mali Capital; Take 170 Hostages
SCARBOROUGH: “Good morning, it’s Friday, November 20th, and welcome to ‘Morning Joe’. We’ve got breaking news this morning, of course. Out of Mali, in West Africa, a group of gunmen have stormed a hotel in Mali’s capital city, taking at least 170 people hostage. This is unfolding right now, at the Radisson Blu, in central Mali. A spokesperson tells NBC News the hostages include about 140 guests, and 30 employees. And according to the associated press, 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting Allah Akbar before firing on the guards. The U.S. embassy in Mali has confirmed, it is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation in the city. And according to the APA, Malian army commander says about 20 hostages have already been released. Let’s go right now to NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, he’s live in Brussels. He’s, of course, been following the latest developments there very closely. But also the latest developments in Mali. Obviously, Ayman, this has been war-torn country for some time. A heavy French presence especially after you had the Islamists take over the country, a few years ago in 2013. What can you tell us about the country, and why we’re seeing yet another massive terror operation there this morning?”
MOHYELDIN: “Right. Well, it’s important to emphasize we still don’t know the identity of this gunmen, who have taken the hotel hostage. But, you’re absolutely right. The country has been really suffering from a lot of turmoil over the past several years. And it began back in 2012 when the military in that country carried out a coup against the president, and shortly after that, the country saw an immediate split. You had a group of rebels in the northern part of the country, some affiliated with al Qaeda in the Maghreb which is the al Qaeda affiliate that operates mostly in the western part of Africa. They began a rebellion and began to take over the northern part of the country. It was at the time a very disturbing scene to see Mali split up that quickly, right after that military coup. That prompted international condemnation and led the French government at the time to lead a series of military campaigns to help dislodge some of those rebels from the northern part, some of those Islamist militants from the northern part of the country. They managed to successfully do that, but at a cost for the country. We’ve seen that over the past several years, despite the fact that the north has come back under the control of the central government, there are still a series of attacks that take place as a result of some of those militant groups that are operating in the north just this past march, many militant group attacked a popular restaurant in the capital that killed at least five people. So, this is a country that has had a turbulent past, particularly with al Qaeda affiliated rebels in the northern part of the country, Joe.”
SCARBOROUGH: “Ayman Mohyeldin, do you know how much of an American presence, how much of a European presence there is in the capital and in Mali in general?”
MOHYELDIN: “We have a general picture, not necessarily sure how many were at the hotel. But I can tell you — here is what we know from official news agency media and state controlled media. We know that there was a substantial Chinese presence in the country and there are Chinese hostages, among those at the hotel. That is according to the official Chinese stet news agency. We also know from the Turkish state media, that there were at least six Turkish employees of Turkish Airlines that are at that hotel, as well. Now, the U.S. embassy has not confirmed or denied the presence of Americans in that situation. There are some eyewitness accounts of those that have been released that have said there are westerners, tere are foreigners inside that hotel. In terms of the big picture, we know that France has about a thousand troops on the ground in that country. We also know that the United Nations has an very active mission that is headquartered in Bamako. The area where this hotel is, west of the city, is very close to a lot of government ministries, government buildings. It is very common for a lot of these diplomats, a lot of government agencies to meet at hotels like this. This is considered a luxury hotel in Bomako. So it would not be at the time that this raid took place or this attack took place, it would not have been uncommon to see or hear western officials perhaps even businessmen at that hotel. We also know that the Dutch government has about 450 troops as well in Mali. So, by most accounts there is a pretty substantial a foreign presence, particularly in the capitol, which makes this time that much more daring. The fact that they’ve been able to go right into the heart of the government, close to government ministries that are pretty well secured, and take over a luxury hotel with about 140 hostages. It is going to be extremely troubling news for the Malian government, how this [indecipherable] to happen.”
SCARBOROUGH: “All right, Ayman Mohyeldin, thank you so much. We greatly appreciate it. Let’s go now to NBC News —“
