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| Gunman Kills Five in Restaurant in Mali | Gunman Kills Five in Restaurant in Mali |
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| DAKAR, Senegal — A masked gunman opened fire on a restaurant in Mali’s capital, Bamako, early Saturday morning, killing at least two Europeans — a Frenchman and a Belgian — and three Malians. | DAKAR, Senegal — A masked gunman opened fire on a restaurant in Mali’s capital, Bamako, early Saturday morning, killing at least two Europeans — a Frenchman and a Belgian — and three Malians. |
| The gunman sprayed the restaurant, La Terrasse, with bullets, firing indiscriminately, according to residents and officials. A ranking security official said two people had been arrested in connection with the attack. | |
| “This was a terrorist attack. It’s absolutely clear,” said the security official, an army officer who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The attack took place in Hippodrome, a neighborhood of the capital that contains a number of bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners. | “This was a terrorist attack. It’s absolutely clear,” said the security official, an army officer who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The attack took place in Hippodrome, a neighborhood of the capital that contains a number of bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners. |
| From one moment to the next, a festive Friday night at La Terrasse, crowded with United Nations workers and other Europeans, turned into a pandemonium of bullets, blood, and fear, witnesses said. A lone gunman burst into the restaurant, witnesses said, and began firing at tables where Europeans were seated, at point-blank range. | From one moment to the next, a festive Friday night at La Terrasse, crowded with United Nations workers and other Europeans, turned into a pandemonium of bullets, blood, and fear, witnesses said. A lone gunman burst into the restaurant, witnesses said, and began firing at tables where Europeans were seated, at point-blank range. |
| “We were laughing, talking. Suddenly these people came inside,” said a Swedish health worker, Reidun Runften, who had been dancing at the bar. “It was boom, boom, boom,” she said. “I was very close to the bar, and we just went under there. We didn’t move because they were shooting a lot,” she said. | “We were laughing, talking. Suddenly these people came inside,” said a Swedish health worker, Reidun Runften, who had been dancing at the bar. “It was boom, boom, boom,” she said. “I was very close to the bar, and we just went under there. We didn’t move because they were shooting a lot,” she said. |
| When she looked up, a young Malian woman — the girlfriend of a European sitting next to her — was lying on the floor, blood coming from her neck, Ms. Runften said. | |
| While Al Qaeda-linked terrorists took over Mali’s sparsely populated desert north three years ago, only to be driven out by French and Chadian forces a year later, the distant capital has been spared such attacks. Bamako has been considered a terrorist-free zone, though it has been the scene of considerable political and civil unrest over the last three years, with a military coup in 2012 and frequent score-settling among army factions. | While Al Qaeda-linked terrorists took over Mali’s sparsely populated desert north three years ago, only to be driven out by French and Chadian forces a year later, the distant capital has been spared such attacks. Bamako has been considered a terrorist-free zone, though it has been the scene of considerable political and civil unrest over the last three years, with a military coup in 2012 and frequent score-settling among army factions. |
| Saturday’s attack took place shortly after midnight, in a neighborhood of broad red-dirt streets that are lively on weekends with music from open-air bars and restaurants. Witnesses said the gunman killed a police officer on his way out the door of La Terrasse, then climbed into a car driven by an accomplice. Some reports on Malian websites said the attackers also hurled grenades. At Gabriel Touré Hospital, an official said there were numerous people wounded from the attack. | |
| Saturday’s assault in the capital, apparently the work of terrorists, is a rare occurrence in a region where Islamist militant attacks have generally been confined to the peripheries. The assault is likely to change the calculus, and it recalled the kidnapping in 2011 of two Frenchmen from a restaurant in Niamey, the capital of Niger. But these episodes are rare in West African capitals where security forces are concentrated and foreigners generally do not feel the terrorist menace. | Saturday’s assault in the capital, apparently the work of terrorists, is a rare occurrence in a region where Islamist militant attacks have generally been confined to the peripheries. The assault is likely to change the calculus, and it recalled the kidnapping in 2011 of two Frenchmen from a restaurant in Niamey, the capital of Niger. But these episodes are rare in West African capitals where security forces are concentrated and foreigners generally do not feel the terrorist menace. |
| “Things are not good in the capital today,” said Moctar Mariko, head of the Malian Human Rights League, in a telephone interview from Bamako. “It’s the first time we’ve experienced this kind of terrorist attack in Bamako.” | |
| “To go into the streets with Kalashnikovs and grenades, this is unheard-of,” he added. “They didn’t have particular targets, but they knew it was a restaurant frequented by Europeans and Americans. They shot at everything that moved.” | |
| The United Nations, which still has a large peacekeeping operation in Mali, said that two U.N. anti-mine experts had been wounded in the attack; the European Union said the Belgian who was killed was a security official with its delegation in Bamako. France, whose military operations continue in the north, warned its citizens Saturday to exercise caution in the capital. | The United Nations, which still has a large peacekeeping operation in Mali, said that two U.N. anti-mine experts had been wounded in the attack; the European Union said the Belgian who was killed was a security official with its delegation in Bamako. France, whose military operations continue in the north, warned its citizens Saturday to exercise caution in the capital. |
| Mali’s government is still working to get the north’s numerous armed factions, some of them allied with Islamist militants, to give final approval to a peace settlement signed a week ago in Algiers. The northern conflict has barely affected the capital up until now though. | Mali’s government is still working to get the north’s numerous armed factions, some of them allied with Islamist militants, to give final approval to a peace settlement signed a week ago in Algiers. The northern conflict has barely affected the capital up until now though. |
| “It seems that Bamako has been infiltrated by the Islamists, by terrorist groups.” Mr. Mariko said. “We are not used to this sort of barbarism.” |