Off the wire
• European Curling Championships opens in Denmark  • Pakistani president rejects petitions for army school attack convicts  • Urgent: UN chief condemns terrorist attack at Malian hotel  • Baltic leaders call for unified response to security threats in Europe  • Tanzanian new President inaugurates Parliament, vows to fight corruption  • U.S. stocks jump amid interest rate comments  • Transit refugee flow via Slovenia appears slowing down  • 3rd LD: All 20 Indians in Mali hotel siege evacuated safely  • Japan's ruling LDP to review postwar history amid concerns of historical revisionism  • NATO cancels restrictions over Serbian airspace  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: UN chief condemns terrorist attack at Malian hotel

Xinhua, November 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned the "horrific terrorist attack" at a hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako which killed a number of civilians and injured many more.

A group of unidentified gunmen attacked the Radisson Blu hotel on Friday morning, seizing 170 guests and staff as hostage, many of them foreigners. At least 18 people were killed after Malian Special Forces put an end to the hostage situation in the luxury hotel.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ban expressed his condolences to the government of Mali and the bereaved families, while wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded victims of this attack.

Noting with concern that the attack took place at a time when Malian peace process is making good progress, Ban deplored any attempt to derail the implementation of the agreement on peace and reconciliation in Mali.

While expressing his support to the Malian authorities in fight against terrorist groups, Ban reiterated the commitment of the United Nations, through UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), to support the Malian government and the parties to the agreement at "this critical juncture" in the peace process. Endite