As the world focuses on ISIS, we are reminded that we also have to contend with our old terrorist foe al-Qaeda. In the African nation of Mali, an al-Qaeda affiliated group attacked a luxury hotel, taking 170 people, many of them foreign tourists, hostage. Commandos stormed the hotel, but some 20 hostages were killed, including one American.
Meanwhile, in Belgium, the capital city of Brussels was put into a state of lockdown–with all public events cancelled and people being urged to stay in their homes–in face of what authorities called evidence of an “imminent,” Paris-style attack. Belgian police arrested 16 jihadists.
From At least 27 dead after Islamists seize luxury hotel in Mali’s capital – Yahoo News:
At least 27 people were reported dead on Friday after Malian commandos stormed a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako with at least 170 people inside, many of them foreigners, that had been seized by Islamist gunmen.
The former French colony has been battling Islamist rebels for several years, and the jihadist group Al Mourabitoun, allied to al Qaeda and based in the deserts of northern Mali, claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet.
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For an update, go here.
From 16 Arrested as Brussels Prepares for Third Day Under Maximum Threat. NBC:
Sixteen people were arrested in Belgium after a series of raids Sunday across Brussels, although a fugitive wanted in connection with the Paris attacks wasn’t among them, Belgian federal prosecutors said.
The raids came as heavily armed troops and police deployed across Brussels and as the city prepared to remain under maximum threat level for a third day Monday after warnings of a Paris-style attack. The country’s prime minister, Charles Michel, described the threats as “serious and imminent.”
“I indicated yesterday that what we are concerned about an attack similar to the one that was carried out in Paris involving several individuals and maybe targeting attacks on several sites simultaneously,” Michel said.
Schools were to remain closed Monday, and public events and transportation were to be canceled.
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