Mali: Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Attack On Radisson Hotel
By MISNA
Al Qaeda in the Islaic Maghreb (AQMI) claimed the November 20 attack at the Radisson Hotel of Bamako, which left over 20 dead. In an audio statement, Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of the Jihadist group, confirms that his militants carried out the attack with the Al-Mourabitoun organization.
Al-Mourabitoun had already claimed the attack just hours later, also citing the AQMI. Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta has however dismissed the claim, instead indicating the responsibility of another armed group, the Front de Liberation du Macina. The group in fact had claimed the attack as a response to the French military operation Barkhane in the Sahel.
Both AQMI and Al-Mourabitoun have repeatedly reaffimed that they are part of the al Qaeda network, though some branches have recently split from the groups: some factions have in fact sworn allegiance to the Islamic State.
