Suspected militants hit hotel in Mali

BAMAKO: Suspected militants carried out a late-night attack on a hotel in central Mali several days after the town was visited by the country’s prime minister, officials said Thursday, adding that at least one assailant was killed. The security ministry and the army said attackers late Wednesday struck the Falaise hotel in the town of Bandiagara, a former tourist magnet in the heart of Mali’s picturesque Dogon Country. Two assailants were killed and two other people were injured, the ministry said. In contrast, the army said one attacker was killed and three others fled, while a soldier and one civilian were wounded.