4th LD Writethru: Mali special forces storm hotel attacked by gunmen

The Mali special forces started to storm the luxury Radisson Blu hotel on Friday after unidentified gunmen took 170 people hostage in the hotel located in the Malian capital Bamako.

Local media reported earlier at least 80 hostages have been freed, but the hotel later said in a statement on its website that 124 guests

and 13 staff were still trapped.

Mali's Minister of Internal Security and Civil Protection confirmed the Malian special forces have rescued 30 Malians and foreigners while the rest of the hostages managed to escape by themselves, without giving more details.

Terming it as a terrorist attack, the minister also said two members of the Malian special forces were injured during their operations to rescue the hostages.

The identity of the gunmen as well as the exact number of terrorists involved in the attack remains unknown.

The hotel chain said earlier two gunmen had "locked in" 140 guests and 30 employees at the hotel, but Malian security forces said there were around ten gunmen involved in the hotel attack.

At least three hostages were killed in the attack, according to the Malian security sources.

The Chinese Embassy in Mali said seven Chinese nationals were among the hostages, but so far three of them have been rescued. Enditem