Malian special forces have stormed a luxury hotel captured by gunmen in Mali's capital Bamako Friday in a bid to release up to 170 hostages, some of them believed to be American, a senior police source and witnesses told Reuters. Both AP and Reuters have reported that there are currently no more hostages in the hotel siege.The Pentagon said on Thursday that 22 Defense Department military and civilian employees were accounted for after the attack on a luxury hotel in Bamako, Mali, according to Reuters. There were no injuries reported among those personnel, the Pentagon said. The gunmen have held siege at the Radisson Blu hotel, located just west of the city center in a neighborhood that is home to government ministries and diplomats, since early Friday morning. An African Jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Friday for the attack and hostage-taking. The claim could not immediately be verified.
