As many as 27 dead after siege at Mali hotel

A group of armed men stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital, early Friday, The Guardian reports. The gunmen had taken approximately 150 people hostage inside the hotel, shouting, "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great"). Mali's military said that two of the gunmen were killed in the siege; all the hostages are now free. A U.N. official said the hotel counted 27 bodies inside. Six Americans who were in the hotel when it was attacked have been verified as safe.

An African al Qaeda group, Al-Mourabitoun, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group conducted an attack on a hotel in central Mali last August, which left 17 dead.

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