2015 Bamako hotel attack

2015 Bamako hotel attack
Location of Bamako within Mali
Location	Bamako, Mali
Coordinates	12°38′07″N 8°01′51″W / 12.6352°N 8.0308°W / 12.6352; -8.0308Coordinates: 12°38′07″N 8°01′51″W / 12.6352°N 8.0308°W / 12.6352; -8.0308
Date	20 November 2015 (UTC)
Attack type	Mass shooting, 170 hostages taken
Weapons	AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades
Deaths	22 total 20 hostages 2 gunmen
Non-fatal injuries	7 and at least two Malian Special Forces
Perpetrators	Al-Mourabitoun Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

22 total

On 20 November 2015, Islamist militants took 170 hostages and killed 20 of them in a mass shooting at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. Malian commandos raided the hotel and freed the surviving hostages.Al-Mourabitoun claimed that it carried out the attack "in cooperation with" Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; an Al Qaeda member confirmed that the two groups cooperated in the attack.

Following the Libyan civil war, many ethnic Tuareg who had fought for the Gaddafi government and the rebels took their weapons and left for Azawad (A region in Northern Mali that the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) wants to be an independent state). Following several previously failed , the MNLA managed to take over the area and declare independence. However, the secular movement was soon overrun by Islamist-oriented groups such as MOJWA and Ansar Dine. The French launched a military operation that ousted the rebels, with additional military support from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). However, simmering tensions and irregular incidents continued to occur. The Macina Liberation Front is a new jihadist group operating in central and southern Mali led by the radical Muslim cleric Amadou Kouffa, a strong proponent of strict Islamic law in Mali. The group draws most of its support from the Fulani ethnic group, who are found across the Sahel region. Kouffa is a close ally of Ansar Dine leader Iyad ag Ghali. A Human Rights Watch report said the Macina Liberation Front militants had carried out serious abuses in parts of central Mali since January and killed at least five people they accused of being aligned to the government. The group has attacked police and military particularly in the Mopti region, most recently killing three soldiers in Tenenkou in August. The Malian military recently arrested Alaye Bocari, a man they say was a key MLF financier and Kouffa's right-hand man.