BAMAKO: Mali on Saturday began three days of national mourning and declared a state of emergency after a nine-hour siege by jihadist gunmen at a top hotel in the capital left at least 27 people dead.

The assault, claimed by Al Qaeda affiliate

the Al-Murabitoun group led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, ended after Malian and international troops stormed the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.

The attack came as fears are mounting about terrorist threats a week after devastating attacks in Paris that killed 130 people claimed by the militant Islamic State group, which also said it had downed a Russian passenger jet in Egypt weeks before.

The Malian government declared a 10-day nationwide state of emergency from midnight on Friday over the assault and called three days of mourning for the victims, who included three Chinese, an American and a Belgian.

Malian security sources said 27 out of more than 100 people taken hostage in the raid had died, while at least three “terrorists” were killed or blew themselves up.

Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of groups linked to Al Qaeda in 2012.

The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year, but large swathes of Mali remain lawless and prone to attacks.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2015