State of Emergency Extended in Mali

Local Editor

Authorities in the West African country of Mali extended a state of emergency declared after a deadly militant attack on a hotel in the capital city last month.

Officials said a nationwide state of emergency is agreed to go on for three more months, in which it will last until the end of March.

Besides, an official statement informed that the decision came after the government submitted a bill on Monday allowing the fresh extension to March 31 "because of serious threats to the security of persons and their property."

Relatively, the bill was unanimously approved in a Tuesday vote by Mali's National Assembly.

Earlier on November 20, gunmen laid a siege at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, which claimed the lives of 20 people, including 14 foreigners.

The assailants held around 170 guests and staff hostage for about nine hours before Malian and international forces stormed the luxury hotel to free the captives.

Indeed, both the Macina Liberation Front, a Malian militant group, and the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Mourabitoun group, led by Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claimed responsibility for the hotel attack and hostage-taking.

It is worth mentioning that Mali has been witnessing violence since 2012. The state of emergency in the crisis-hit country was extended twice and the latest was about to expire on Thursday.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team