At least nine people have been reportedly killed as armed gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Bamako, Mali on Friday morning. Reports say 170 people are being held hostage at the Radisson Blu hotel in the country’s capital.
About 10 armed offenders are believed to have assaulted guests of the luxury hotel Radisson Blu in Bamako — the capital of Mali. Two to three attackers with AK-47s arrived at the hotel in a vehicle or in vehicles with diplomatic plates about 7 a.m. Local Time, according to Olivier Saldago, a spokesman for the United Nations mission in Mali. Inside the hotel, gunmen began shooting at people and throwing grenades, where two Malian nationals and a French national are reported to have been killed.
Gunmen were reported to be freeing hostages who could recite verses from Qur’an.
Malian special forces are reported to have entered the hotel.
The Radisson Blu Hotel is about 2,000 feet away from the Embassy of the United States in Mali.
Mali in West Africa is a former French colony under French control from about 1905 until June 20, 1960 when the Mali Federation gained independence from France. The short-lived Mali Federation then split the French colonies of Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (or French Sudan, not to be confused with Sudan which is in east Africa near the Red Sea).
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A luxury hotel stamped with Islamic State logos. Rifle-wielding fighters chaperoning kids at an amusement park. Such is life through the lens of ISIS propaganda in the besieged Iraqi city of Mosul.
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Huge smoke cloud over Kobani after anti-ISIS airstrike.
Black smoke billowed over Kobani on Sunday following a US-led coalition airstrike aimed at repelling the Islamic State group, which is advancing on the town from two sides. The battle for Kobani is still raging despite more than two weeks of airstrikes by the US-led coalition targeting militants in and around the town.
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US NAVY VIDEO: USS Arleigh Burke launches Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles to combat ISIL.
RED SEA (Sept 23, 2014) The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) launches Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles (TLAM) against ISIL targets. Arleigh Burke is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carlos M. Vazquez II/RELEASED).
Tomahawk missiles have an operational range of 810 miles to 1,550 miles at subsonic speeds of about 550 mph.
Tomahawk launches use a Vertical Launch System (VLS) and horizontal submarine torpedo tubes (known as TTL or torpedo tube launch).
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CNN breaking news report as US begins air strikes in Syria.
A military mission has begun from the USS H.W. Bush Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy and other US naval ships. The F-22 Raptor is reported be involved in the mission, which would be the first time the aircraft has been used in combat. Fighter jets, bombers and Tomahawk missiles.
The USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) is reported to be launching the Tomahawk missiles at Syria — speculated to be from a position in the Mediterranean Sea, but later reported to be the Red Sea. The USS Arleigh Burke is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers launched on September 16 1989. The USS Arleigh Burke has participated in Bosnia-Herzegovina operations, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, anti-pirate operations in Somalia, and other operations.
The USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) was mentioned in April 2011 as being a possible test platform for a railgun — an electromagnetic projectile launcher that is known to send a 7-pound projectile hypersonic as fast 5343 miles per hour. A tested projectile round made by Boeing is known to have been sent by the General Atomics railgun with zero elevation downrange over four miles after going through a steel wall.
US military & partner nation forces have begun striking ISIL targets in Syria using mix of fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles.
Explosions had begun about 0115 UT. About 20 ISIL targets are believed to be involved in the military operation. The targets are reported to be ISIS safe havens, training camps, command and control centers, warehouses, parking areas of weaponized vehicles, and supply routes.
Five Arab nations are working along side with the United States — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar.
The British and French are not part of the air strike operations.
President Barack Obama was not expected to speak Monday night about the military operations.
Israel escalates its campaign against Hamas, striking symbols of the militant group’s control in Gaza and firing tank shells that Palestinian officials say shut down the strip’s only power plant in the heaviest bombardment in the war so far.
At least 100 residents of Gaza Strip were killed on Tuesday, bringing the death toll of the recent conflict to over 1100.
Dozens of attacks on Tuesday damaged government offices, the homes of Hamas leaders, the power plant, a central Mosque, and a television station.
Israel has reported 53 soldiers killed and three civilians killed.
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A CNN team observes a Ukrainian military convoy believed to apart of Kiev’s operation against pro-Russian separatists.
Ukraine’s Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov says troops have taken control of at an airport in the eastern city of Kramatorsk as Ukraine launches an “anti-terrorist operation” against pro-Russian separatists. There is a report Tuesday of shots fired from inside the air base and unconfirmed reports that 11 people were killed after Ukrainian troops disembarked from two military helicopters.
The Ukraine state security service has announced that a similar operation is under way in the town of Slaviansk, some 12 miles away.
Ukrainian Fighter jets over Kramatorsk.
What appear to be Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets have been spotted flying over Kramatorsk, Tuesday. The sighting follows the presidential decree for “anti-terror” operations, to contain the restive southeastern regions of Ukraine who are demanding more autonomy from Kiev.
