1st Ld-Writethru: China strongly condemns Mali hotel attack, confirms 3 nationals killed

China strongly condemns the Friday attack by the Jihadist Al-Murabitoun group on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, which killed 27 people, including three Chinese nationals, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said on Saturday.

"China expresses indignation at and strongly condemns this atrocity,"Hong said in a statement.

Chinese leaders attached great importance to the incident, he said, adding Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese Embassy in Mali had launched emergency-response mechanism immediately and conducted rescue operations, said Hong.

The Mali government and the international community have made great efforts for the rescue operations yet the attackers showed a total disregard for human conscience and committed brutal and inhumane crimes, Hong said.

Hong confirmed that four Chinese nationals were rescued. The Chinese government expressed deep sorrow and sent heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, he said.

China will continue to work with the international community to effectively safeguard the safety and legal rights of Chinese nationals and institutions abroad, he said.

China Railway Construction Corporation Limited confirmed Saturday in an online statement that three executives of the company were killed in the attack.

More than 100 other hostages were rescued by Malian forces at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.

There were no more hostages held at Radisson Blu hotel, said Mali security minister Salif Traore, hours after gunmen stormed the hotel and held 170 people hostage, many of them foreigners. Endi