서아프리카 말리 수도의 고급호텔에 20일(현지시간) 아침 이슬람 무장단체가 난입해 170여명을 인질로 붙잡고 말리 정부군과 대치하고 있다.
또 이 무장단체가 호텔을 습격해 인질극을 벌이는 과정에서 프랑스인 1명과 말리인 2명 등 최소 3명이 사망했다. 지금도 이 단체에 억류 중인 인질에는 프랑스 등
서방 국가 출신과 터키인, 중국인 등도 포함돼 있다.
지난 13일 프랑스 파리 연쇄 테러가 발생한 지 1주일 만에 이번 인질극이 벌어져 또다시 대규모 인명 피해 우려마저 제기되고 있다.
알자지라와 CNN 방송과 AP, AFP통신 등에 따르면 이날 오전 7시께 한 무리의 무장 괴한들이 차량을 타고 수도 바마코 도심에 있는 5성급 호텔인 '래디슨 블루' 호텔을 습격했다.
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(Youtube) |
래디슨 블루 호텔을 소유한 레지도르 호텔그룹은 성명을 내고 "2명이 투숙객 140명과 호텔 직원 30명을 인질로 잡고 있다"고 밝혔다고 AFP는 전했다.
인질극을 벌이는 주체는 즉각 확인되지 않았으나 이슬람 극단주의 단체의 소행으로 추정된다.
이 호텔은 말리 주재 외교관들이 다수 머무는 단지에서 가까운 곳에 있으며 '에어프랑스' 직원을 포함해 서방 외국인들에게 유명한 숙소로 알려졌다.
중국 신화통신은 이번 인질 사건이 알려진 직후 "중국인 관광객 최소 7명이 호텔 안에 갇혀 있다"고 현장에 갇힌 중국인이 채팅앱으로 보내온 메시지를 인용해 보
도했다.
터키 언론도 터키항공 소속 승무원 6명이 호텔 내 억류돼 있다고 전했다.
프랑스 정부 관계자도 구체적인 수는 언급하지 않았지만 자국민이 인질로 붙잡혀 있다고 확인했다.
말리 군인과 경찰은 전체 190개 객실을 보유한 이 호텔 주변을 봉쇄한 상태다.
말리 주재 미국 대사관은 자국민에게 즉각 대피령을 내렸다.
미국 대사관은 또 트위터를 통해 "이 사건을 인지하고 있다"며 자국민에게 외출을 삼가달라고 당부했다.
바마코에서는 지난 8월에도 무장 괴한들이 비블로스 호텔에 난입한 뒤 총기를 난사해 정부군과 유엔 직원 등 8명이 숨진 바 있다.
프랑스는 말리에서 이슬람 극단주의 세력이 확대하자 2013년 말리 정부군을 지원하고자 군대를 파견하는 등 말리에 군사적 지원을 해 왔다.
서아프리카는 이슬람 극단주의 무장단체 보코하람이 활동하는 지역이기도 하다.
보코하람은 수니파 무장조직 이슬람국가(IS)에 충성을 맹세하기도 했다.
(연합)
<관련 영문기사>
Gunmen seize 170 hostages at Radisson hotel in Mali capital
Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.
Malian security forces are storming the hotel and at least a dozen hostages have been freed after the attack by "two or three" assailants, a spokesman for the security ministry told AFP.
Automatic weapons fire was heard outside the 190-room hotel in the city centre, with the ministry spokesman saying at least three hostages had been killed.
Their identities were not yet known.
Security sources said the gunmen were jihadists who had entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said at least seven Chinese nationals were among the hostages, while Turkish Airlines said six of its staff were caught up in the attack.
"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," a security source told AFP earlier.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.
An AFP journalist saw three freed hostages, including two women, who told him they had seen the body of a fair-skinned man lying on the floor of the hotel.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, the US-based parent company of Radisson Blu, said two people had taken a total of 170 people hostage.
The company said it was "aware of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today, 20th November 2015. As per our information two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees".
"Our safety and security teams and our corporate team are in constant contact with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to reinstate safety and security at the hotel," Rezidor said in a statement.
The US embassy in Mali advised any American citizens in the country to shelter where they were, contact their families and monitor local media.
The Radisson attack follows a nearly 24-hour siege and hostage-taking at another hotel in August in the central Malian town of Sevare in which five UN workers were killed, along with four soldiers and four attackers.
Five people, including a French citizen and a Belgian, were also killed in an attack at a restaurant in Bamako in March in the first such incident in the capital.
Islamist groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and rival pro-government armed groups.
In mid-2012 northern fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda. They supplanted Tuareg rebels and imposed a brutal interpretation of sharia law on the region, with Bamako reeling from a military coup.
The Islamists were largely ousted from towns by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, but they have since launched sporadic attacks on security forces from desert hideouts.
Despite the peace deal, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
In a recording authenticated by Malian authorities this week, a jihadist leader in Mali denounced the peace deal and called for further attacks against France, which is helping national forces fight extremists.
In the message released last month -- before this week's deadly jihadist attacks in Paris -- Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghaly endorsed the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine by Islamist extremists in the French capital in January.
The website of the Radisson Blu in Bamako says it offers "upscale lodging close to many government offices and business sites", serving as "one of the city's most popular conference venues" with "a stunning 508-square-metre ballroom and meeting rooms".
Radisson Blu, an upscale brand of the Radisson hotel chain, has more than 230 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.
(AFP)
