Qualla: Radisson Blu Bamako Attack

Radisson Blu Bamako Attack: Introduction

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Voice of America, Public domain. It was an ordinary Friday morning at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako. Air France crews had bunked overnight. Mining executives, diplomats, aid workers, and a Russian flight crew were starting their day. A delegation of the international Francophonie organization was in the building. Then, between 7 and 7:30 a.m. on 20 November 2015, two gunmen drove up in a vehicle bearing diplomatic plates, stepped out, and began to shoot. Over the next nine hours, the hotel in this quiet embassy district became the scene of one of Mali's darkest days. Twenty hostages would not leave alive.

Image: Voice of America | Public domain

Radisson Blu Bamako Attack: The People in the Building

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit VOA, Public domain. The Radisson Blu sat in a business district near the embassies, frequented by foreign professionals and government staff. By the hotel operators' count, 125 guests and 13 employees were inside when the siege began. The dead came from many nations and many walks of life. Six were ...

Image: VOA | Public domain

Radisson Blu Bamako Attack: Seven Hours

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lin Diallo, CC BY-SA 4.0. Witnesses said the attackers spoke a language that was neither Arabic nor a local tongue. The Guinean singer Sekouba Bambino was in the hotel and managed to escape. A Malian journalist, Kassim Traore, reported that some hostages were released after reciting the shahada, the Islam...

Image: Lin Diallo | CC BY-SA 4.0

Radisson Blu Bamako Attack: Those Who Went In

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Voice of America, Public domain. Amid the terror, ordinary courage answered. American service members assisting in Mali joined the rescue. U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Kyle Morgan later received the Distinguished Service Cross for exceptional heroism that day; Gunnery Sergeant Jarad Stout received the Silver S...

Image: Voice of America | Public domain

Radisson Blu Bamako Attack: A Nation in Mourning

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Voice of America, Public domain. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared three days of national mourning. Senegal, Mauritania, and Guinea joined in observance, and the chairman of the West African bloc ECOWAS, Senegalese President Macky Sall, traveled to Bamako to stand with Mali. "Mali will never be alone in ...

Image: Voice of America | Public domain