:00:00. > :00:08.This is BBC World News Today. The headlines:
:00:09. > :00:11.Officials in Mali say no more hostages are inside after a special
:00:12. > :00:16.forces operation against the Islamist gunmen stormed the hotel.
:00:17. > :00:19.Forces are going from room to room to find the gunmen.
:00:20. > :00:23.They are holed up the upper floors of the building.
:00:24. > :00:26.As Paris mourns its dead a week on, police confirm
:00:27. > :00:32.a third body was found in the flat that was raided after the attacks.
:00:33. > :00:34.And European Union ministers agree to strengthen
:00:35. > :00:37.the EU's external borders, with tighter checks on all passengers
:00:38. > :00:58.Mali officials say suspected gunmen who stormed a hotel in the capital,
:00:59. > :01:03.It's thought at least 18 people have been killed,
:01:04. > :01:07.but UN peacekeepers are saying that they have seen 27 bodies.
:01:08. > :01:10.We have not been able to confirm those reports.
:01:11. > :01:11.Special forces raided the Radisson Blu
:01:12. > :01:15.after up to ten gunmen stormed the building, firing automatic weapons
:01:16. > :01:21.Initially, the gunmen seized up to 170 people.
:01:22. > :01:24.The US-owned hotel is popular with foreign businesses
:01:25. > :01:31.A group affiliated to al-Qaeda says it's behind the attack.
:01:32. > :01:35.Our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins has the latest.
:01:36. > :01:39.Combined forces from Mali, the United Nations, France and some
:01:40. > :01:44.US special forces moved in on the hotel as soon as it was clear.
:01:45. > :01:49.Gunmen with grenades had shot their way in and taken hostages.
:01:50. > :01:56.The license plate was that of a diplomatic car.
:01:57. > :02:00.That is why they didn't check them out.
:02:01. > :02:06.When security forces got inside the hotel, they immediately
:02:07. > :02:16.I heard gunshots very early in the morning.
:02:17. > :02:19.I thought it was firecrackers and did not realise it was
:02:20. > :02:21.a hostage situation. Thank God we are safe.
:02:22. > :02:28.The soldiers were very professional. They took good care of us.
:02:29. > :02:32.I tried something, but then the soldier said, "Stay in the room!"
:02:33. > :02:36.Soon, security forces were bringing out dozens of hotel guests and
:02:37. > :02:44.Some reported the extremists shouting, "Allahu Akbar!"
:02:45. > :02:50.and releasing those who could recite verses from the Koran.
:02:51. > :02:53.The attackers would have known that the luxury hotel,
:02:54. > :02:55.close to the diplomatic quarter of Mali's capital, Bamako,
:02:56. > :03:00.An eyewitness told the BBC it was just before 7am
:03:01. > :03:04.when the attackers arrived in a large car with diplomatic plates.
:03:05. > :03:06.There were apparently up to 13 gunmen.
:03:07. > :03:10.At one point, they held up to 170 hostages.
:03:11. > :03:15.Mali's security forces had responded quickly, working with French elite
:03:16. > :03:18.police units, some UN blue-helmeted soldiers,
:03:19. > :03:24.Soon, there were reports of some hostages escaping,
:03:25. > :03:27.including three Turkish Airlines staff, and of many others being
:03:28. > :03:30.rescued by security forces as they moved through the hotel, floor by
:03:31. > :03:36.floor. In Paris, the French president Francois Hollande made no
:03:37. > :03:40.direct link with the attacks on his capital a week ago, but repeated his
:03:41. > :03:43.conviction that greater force was needed against violent extremism.
:03:44. > :03:51.We see once again that the terrorists want to make
:03:52. > :03:56.their horrific mark everywhere they can, by killing, by murder.
:03:57. > :03:58.So we must be firm and show our solidarity towards
:03:59. > :04:06.In Mali, some survivors were still in shock.
:04:07. > :04:09.It remained unclear if all of the extremists had been found
:04:10. > :04:14.and stopped. James Robbins, BBC News.
:04:15. > :04:16.We spoke a short time ago to Mali-based journalist
:04:17. > :04:24.Francois Rihouay as events were continuing to unfold in the hotel.
:04:25. > :04:35.We have now gone back to him for an update. The situation is looking to
:04:36. > :04:42.have calmed down. It is quite in front of the hotel. Night is
:04:43. > :04:51.falling. The Mali security forces and special forces are now coming,
:04:52. > :04:56.but the last time we spoke, there was a huge panic movement because
:04:57. > :05:03.people aware really on edge. It looks like now the final death toll
:05:04. > :05:08.figure is 18 dead, according to a high security official I just spoke
:05:09. > :05:13.to. Two terrorists were killed during the operation. Two terrorists
:05:14. > :05:19.dead, but we do not know for sure the number of other attackers. What
:05:20. > :05:21.is happening with that? We still have to figure out. The
:05:22. > :05:27.investigation will start and that will be much longer. We will
:05:28. > :05:35.investigate how they could get to this hotel and get this diplomatic
:05:36. > :05:43.card, the black four by four they used to get into the hotel.
:05:44. > :05:52.According to one of the French military sources I spoke to, it was
:05:53. > :06:00.two attackers. There were only two attackers? Yeah according to the
:06:01. > :06:09.people I spoke to. The last attack in Bamako when a restaurant was
:06:10. > :06:13.attacked and killed five people, other people were not directly
:06:14. > :06:20.involved in the attack but where helping and financing, hosting the
:06:21. > :06:24.attackers. Francois, you report from Bamako, you are local to the area.
:06:25. > :06:38.Does it surprise you that something like this has happened? Not that
:06:39. > :06:42.surprising, since all Mali authorities have said that since the
:06:43. > :06:46.French intervention in the 20 13th, they have all this said it would be
:06:47. > :06:56.a permanent threat, especially in the capital. The surprising thing
:06:57. > :07:02.tonight is to figure out that it is the main hotel, the one thought to
:07:03. > :07:07.be one of the most safe in the capital that has been attacked. That
:07:08. > :07:19.the attackers could get in so easily... Foreigners who used to
:07:20. > :07:24.come, it is frightening. Just a line from the French defence Minister,
:07:25. > :07:28.because he says at this stage, no French nationals were killed in the
:07:29. > :07:31.Mali hotel attacks. But from the French defence minister.
:07:32. > :07:33.Today's attack comes after a string of threats by Islamist
:07:34. > :07:35.groups against the government and western interests in Mali.
:07:36. > :07:38.French forces have been stationed there since 2013 when they fought
:07:39. > :07:40.successfully to push back Islamic militants who were controlling large
:07:41. > :07:46.Our security correspondent Frank Gardner has more details.
:07:47. > :07:50.Parts of Mali have been a battle ground for more than four years.
:07:51. > :07:54.The UN's 10,000 peacekeepers there are fully stretched in this
:07:55. > :08:02.Their commander wants Europe to do more if terrorism is to be stopped.
:08:03. > :08:06.Mali is important because it has a regional impact
:08:07. > :08:11.and it also has a global impact, of course on terrorism and so on.
:08:12. > :08:15.It would be interesting to see a larger European engagement
:08:16. > :08:26.It was swift military intervention by front that stopped most of Mali
:08:27. > :08:34.Jihadists like these have been able to move across regional borders
:08:35. > :08:42.It all began with the collapse of Libya in 2011 and the fall
:08:43. > :08:47.Weapons and insurgents flooded into the Sahara.
:08:48. > :08:51.In Mali, Islamist rebels took over most of the north of the country
:08:52. > :08:57.French forces pushed them back but pockets of rebels and jihadists
:08:58. > :09:06.In nearby Nigeria, the jihadist group Boko Haram has
:09:07. > :09:13.wreaked havoc, killing more people last year than Islamic State did.
:09:14. > :09:17.And in Algeria, where Western workers were killed recently in a
:09:18. > :09:21.hostage siege, remnants of Al-Qaeda survived in the mountains.
:09:22. > :09:24.Further south, experts blame poor governance.
:09:25. > :09:28.I think it is the same story all over Africa.
:09:29. > :09:31.They are able to grow because, in most of the African states, the
:09:32. > :09:36.There are thousands of young people who are unemployed and can be easily
:09:37. > :09:45.Mali will need more than military intervention to stop terrorism.
:09:46. > :09:49.It needs secure borders, better governance and a stable
:09:50. > :09:52.economy if more young men are not to be drawn into the murderous ideology
:09:53. > :10:02.The Carlson Rezidor hotel group, which owns and operates the Radisson
:10:03. > :10:07.Blu Hotel in Bamako, has set up an emergency family information number.
:10:08. > :10:26.It's based in France. The number to call is:
:10:27. > :10:39.Stay up to date with the latest news out of Mali via the BBC live page.
:10:40. > :10:46.Their update their very regularly coming from various sources as well
:10:47. > :11:00.as testimony and interviews. Just head to the BBC website.
:11:01. > :11:08.We turn now to what happened in Mali today to what happened in Paris one
:11:09. > :11:12.week ago. Let me shortly be seen at Place de la Republique, where people
:11:13. > :11:20.are holding flowers and candles. People coming out in force as part
:11:21. > :11:24.of a display of defiance as the time of 9:20pm local time approaches.
:11:25. > :11:29.That was the time those first terrible attacks happened one week
:11:30. > :11:33.ago exactly. People trying to show they are not afraid. They are coming
:11:34. > :11:50.onto the street and making sure their voices are heard. It is one
:11:51. > :11:54.week since the terrible things we saw. Inevitably, people are turning
:11:55. > :11:58.their minds back to where they wear at this time last week. Some of them
:11:59. > :12:02.were already inside the Stade de France Stadium to watch the national
:12:03. > :12:10.team. Some were heading to bars and restaurants in this area. Some to
:12:11. > :12:14.have a meal and meet friends. Some thought they were lucky enough to
:12:15. > :12:20.have a ticket here at the batter clan to see the Californian band
:12:21. > :12:24.Eagles Of Death Metal. In the darkest corners of their minds, they
:12:25. > :12:29.could not have imagined what would unfold over the course of the next
:12:30. > :12:35.four hours. Extraordinary cruelty and barbarity. Eight, nine, possibly
:12:36. > :12:39.ten gunmen on the loose in Paris. We have been reporting it through the
:12:40. > :12:44.course of the week how that has affected the city. Today, the death
:12:45. > :12:50.toll went up to 130. One more person has died and still 90 people in
:12:51. > :12:58.intensive care. Some 200 people injured, lives wrecked and destroyed
:12:59. > :13:01.by the senselessness of what we saw. Behind me, a steady stream of people
:13:02. > :13:07.filtering past the batter clan. Thousands of bouquets being laid all
:13:08. > :13:16.along these railings. -- filtering past the batter clan theatre. Left
:13:17. > :13:22.by friends and family and ordinary members of the public. Different
:13:23. > :13:24.flags demonstrating the different nations and nationalities of those
:13:25. > :13:29.who have come to pay their respects. Today has largely been about the
:13:30. > :13:34.politics, because the interior minister Bernard Cazenove has been
:13:35. > :13:40.to meet his colleagues in Brussels. They are talking about the need for
:13:41. > :13:44.tighter controls at the borders of the 26th-country Schengen zone. They
:13:45. > :13:48.decided those controls will be stiffened. Anyone coming into the
:13:49. > :13:52.Schengen zone, whether or not they hold an EU passport, will be checked
:13:53. > :13:56.and vetted properly and cross checked against the list of names
:13:57. > :14:00.that they hold. There will also be tighter checks on the borders in
:14:01. > :14:03.France in line with the three-month state of emergency which is now in
:14:04. > :14:10.place, approved by the Senate just ate few hours ago. Intelligence
:14:11. > :14:13.agencies talking about greater sharing of information in real-time,
:14:14. > :14:17.so new databases to with that process. Here is our Paris
:14:18. > :14:30.correspondence. They queued at Paris' Central Mosque
:14:31. > :14:32.today for the simple comfort And no one, no matter how old
:14:33. > :14:47.or how familiar, was exempt. It was a war zone,
:14:48. > :14:51.just like a war zone. Not only by the type of injuries,
:14:52. > :14:57.bullet injuries, ballistic trauma, but also because we had a huge
:14:58. > :15:03.number of patients at the same time. And for different challenges,
:15:04. > :15:12.different measures. The response from France this week,
:15:13. > :15:15.a seven-hour raid In amongst the forces there was
:15:16. > :15:22.Hugo, who told his story to the BBC. When we got to the third floor,
:15:23. > :15:29.we put explosives on the door, but when we detonated them,
:15:30. > :15:33.the door did not totally collapse. We had to put another charge in,
:15:34. > :15:36.but before we could detonate that, Since the attacks here last week,
:15:37. > :15:42.French forces have carried out almost 800 searches
:15:43. > :15:46.and more than 100 arrests, but security on each street corner
:15:47. > :15:53.is not the same as feeling safe. For a week,
:15:54. > :15:55.the dead have been remembered here Tonight, they will be
:15:56. > :15:59.honoured with defiance. Well-known artists
:16:00. > :16:02.and musicians have called on Parisians to pack the city's
:16:03. > :16:27.bars and restaurants at 9:20pm, Still forensically going on here in
:16:28. > :16:34.front of the theatre. Not much to see. Frenzied work going on at the
:16:35. > :16:46.apartment in Mali, where that leads took place on Wednesday. In
:16:47. > :16:50.Saint-Denis. We suppose it ring leader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was in
:16:51. > :16:56.that apartment. We now know that he was filmed within the metro system
:16:57. > :17:00.where the black car was dumped on the evening of the attacks.
:17:01. > :17:04.Interesting that he was there at around 10pm, just as the attacks are
:17:05. > :17:09.getting underway here, on the opposite side of the road. We also
:17:10. > :17:16.know that the intelligence agencies were following his cousin, this
:17:17. > :17:21.supposedly suicide bomber. She was already under investigation for
:17:22. > :17:26.drugs. It was a drugs investigation. They thought they would go back and
:17:27. > :17:29.see who she was in contact with. Sure enough, on choose day, she was
:17:30. > :17:37.spotted going into this apartment with Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The raid
:17:38. > :17:39.then started several hours later. We are hearing some extraordinary
:17:40. > :17:45.detail from the commandos that went into that apartment.
:17:46. > :17:48.What was it like as you approached the flat?
:17:49. > :17:57.When we arrived at the scene on the third floor - it was a
:17:58. > :18:01.four-storey building, we wanted to put some explosives on the front
:18:02. > :18:07.but when we released the chargers, the door did not fully open.
:18:08. > :18:11.So we had to put another charge in, but before we could detonate,
:18:12. > :18:18.Were they speaking to you, did the shout at you?
:18:19. > :18:24.The assault team, 1.5-2 metres away from the front door,
:18:25. > :18:28.never heard the terrorists speak, but the sharpshooter heard one
:18:29. > :18:34.She pretended that she wanted to give herself up.
:18:35. > :18:38.We think it was an excuse to get us to enter the flat
:18:39. > :18:47.so that more policemen would die when Horrocks those of automated.
:18:48. > :18:58.-- win her explosives detonated. Extraordinary details coming out of
:18:59. > :19:02.that team. The fact that the team tried to conserve their arms. They
:19:03. > :19:08.were there for the duration. They had reinforced the door of that
:19:09. > :19:13.apartment to get in with explosives. I need to tell you, to clear up some
:19:14. > :19:18.confusion, we have been talking about this woman as the suicide
:19:19. > :19:21.bomber. There is some confusion over that this evening. Only forensics
:19:22. > :19:26.were tellers whether she was wearing a suicide vest or indeed blew
:19:27. > :19:30.herself up. There is a theory tonight in the French press that
:19:31. > :19:35.perhaps she was not a suicide bomber and it was the third person, as yet
:19:36. > :19:41.unidentified, that blew themselves up and she either was killed by that
:19:42. > :19:45.explosion by the rounds. Some 5000 rounds that the police fired into
:19:46. > :19:50.the apartment. So still some confusion there. Still a steady
:19:51. > :19:58.stream of people walking up and down the street here and outside the
:19:59. > :20:06.batter clan theatre. -- outside the Bataclan theatre. It has been very
:20:07. > :20:10.much the case this week. The state of emergency which has been in place
:20:11. > :20:15.stopped big gatherings of people, but you can see there are still many
:20:16. > :20:18.people gathering at Place de la Republique. These pictures and
:20:19. > :20:22.images will be replicated in different parts of the city this
:20:23. > :20:27.evening as France and Paris remembers, outside the bars and
:20:28. > :20:32.restaurants, outside one of the churches here in Paris and also, I
:20:33. > :20:36.would imagine, at the Stade de France, where those suicide bombers
:20:37. > :20:41.blew themselves up. We will bring you all the news of the evening. We
:20:42. > :20:45.are approaching the time when these attacks started, just after 9pm
:20:46. > :20:49.local time. We will bring new reports from Paris as that time
:20:50. > :20:54.approaches. I will hand you back to the studio now.
:20:55. > :20:56.Let's just go back over what we know so far.
:20:57. > :20:58.The authorities in Mali say more than 130 hostages
:20:59. > :21:01.being held at a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako have now been
:21:02. > :21:04.freed, more than seven hours after an attack by jihadist militants
:21:05. > :21:09.State television in Mali says 18 bodies have
:21:10. > :21:14.There are reports that the gunmen are still in the building,
:21:15. > :21:19.A militant group linked to Al Qaeda, which was behind the deadly siege
:21:20. > :21:21.at an Algerian gas plant two years ago, says it carried out
:21:22. > :21:36.What back this woman is a security analyst in Mali. Thank you for
:21:37. > :21:40.talking to us. You spent time focusing on security risks in places
:21:41. > :21:45.like this. How much does what happened today surprise you, or does
:21:46. > :21:52.it? It does not exactly surprised me. The timing is surprising, but
:21:53. > :21:59.the fact that we were able to reach barnacle, to get into a high high
:22:00. > :22:03.scale attack is not surprising. It is something we have seen them do in
:22:04. > :22:09.the past. A similar modus operandi has been used in other locales and
:22:10. > :22:15.barnacle has not been immune from these kinds of attacks. Given that
:22:16. > :22:20.we have seen this kind of thing in the past, should there have been
:22:21. > :22:27.better security and police? There should have been. I think the fact
:22:28. > :22:33.that there was an ongoing security operation by the security forces for
:22:34. > :22:38.the last month and a half it is a three-month operation, might have
:22:39. > :22:43.taken away some of the people's fears. Or maybe a sense of being
:22:44. > :22:48.secure had come through, but unfortunately, Bamako has always
:22:49. > :22:54.been a target. It has always been very openly a target by militants.
:22:55. > :22:58.Mali has been unstable for years. Operations by such groups have
:22:59. > :23:05.really reached the border areas. The West and the southern areas, much
:23:06. > :23:11.more in the last years. Bamako should have been more secure,
:23:12. > :23:13.particularly this hotel. What do you know about the group claiming the
:23:14. > :23:21.responsibility for the attack? Do they record? They do. The Arran
:23:22. > :23:29.amalgamation of two different groups. The leader is the work very
:23:30. > :23:35.well known worldwide jihadists. They were targeted by a drone attack in
:23:36. > :23:42.Libya a couple of months ago, and successfully, obviously. He is a man
:23:43. > :23:53.that has targeted foreigners before. He is behind the attack that
:23:54. > :23:58.happened in Algeria, in which... We have seen them take responsibility
:23:59. > :24:04.for a lower scale attacks as well. Mine explosions targeting UN
:24:05. > :24:07.personnel to an attack on a restaurant in Bamako last March,
:24:08. > :24:15.actually. The target foreigners as well. You focus on security risks.
:24:16. > :24:22.What does something like this do to the advice that you're giving? It is
:24:23. > :24:28.quite interesting, because they did target a Hotel that in terms of
:24:29. > :24:33.security and even by the UN standards, was suggested by a place
:24:34. > :24:39.that was quite secure. It is difficult to say. In Mali, it is a
:24:40. > :24:45.constant threat. It is an issue that a lot of people must deal with.
:24:46. > :24:51.There will be repercussions and a follow-through from this attack. We
:24:52. > :24:55.are going to the heightened security and an unsettled nation in terms of
:24:56. > :24:58.what security forces were doing, why there was not enough security and
:24:59. > :25:03.are the operations by the French forces as well as the other forces
:25:04. > :25:10.and the UN personnel enough? It will be interesting. At the moment, it
:25:11. > :25:13.has never been a stable place, so in terms of advice for people
:25:14. > :25:19.travelling there, it has always been a higher risk. Briefly, what about
:25:20. > :25:26.the timing of this? Do you think this was connected to what we saw in
:25:27. > :25:29.Paris? I think there is a global terrorist movement towards France
:25:30. > :25:34.just because of its involvement in so many different areas. I think
:25:35. > :25:40.threats against the French in Mali have been going on for many years.
:25:41. > :25:45.Specifically, a couple of days before the Paris attack, there was
:25:46. > :25:49.another militant leader who threatened France and said they
:25:50. > :25:53.would attack French interests in Mali specifically. We have to leave
:25:54. > :25:57.it there. Bat-el Ohayon, thank you. We are right up against the end of
:25:58. > :26:02.our programme. Thank you for being with us. Continuing coverage of the
:26:03. > :26:10.situation in the Mali and Paris on the BBC website.