Two arrested over Mali hotel attack

Malian special forces have arrested two men over an attack on a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako which killed 19 people.

An army statement said the pair are from Mali, and were both arrested in Bamako, but provided no other details on their background or their potential roles in the attack.

It added that "questioning of these suspects will shed more light on the motivations of the perpetrators of the sordid terrorist attack perpetrated" at the Radisson Blu hotel on November 20.

Two gunmen armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and explosives stormed the hotel before 7am, striking just as security guards were about to change shifts.
After shooting four of the five guards, killing one, they fired wildly in the lobby and breakfast dining area before heading to the hotel's upper floors.
Malian troops, backed by French and American special forces, swarmed in to retake the building and free terrified guests and hotel staff during a siege that lasted more than seven hours.
The gunmen were killed at the scene, and on Monday state media broadcast their photos, asking anyone with information about them to come forward.