The hotel chain said two armed men have locked in 140 guests and 30
employees.
Malian soldiers with help from U.N. troops have the hotel surrounded.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the
incident.
"This week there was a big delegation for the
peace process at the Radisson hotel in Bamako," said Olivier Saldago, a
spokesman for MINUSMA. MINUSMA is the U.N. mission in the nation.
The United Nations sent peacekeepers to Mali in 2013
to guard against militant Islamists who threatened to move on Bamako.
The U.S. Embassy in Mali asked American citizens and
its staffers to remain indoors. The embassy, in a tweet, called it an
"ongoing active shooter operation."
In August, 12 people -- including five Malian
soldiers - were killed in a hostage situation and ensuing battle at a hotel in
Sevare in central Mali.
The soldiers stormed the hotel to end a daylong siege
that started when gunmen raided the hotel after attacking a military site
nearby, witnesses said.
In that incident, the attackers were affiliated with
the Macina Liberation Movement.
Human Rights Watch has described the group as
Islamists who commit "serious abuses in the course of military operations
against Mali's security forces."
Culled by CNN
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