Gunmen have taken 170 people hostage at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the Malian capital Bamako. The US Embassy in the city has tweeted it was aware of an "ongoing shooter situation," and it's being reported that Malian troops are storming the hotel.
But what do we know about the country in which this is happening? Here's some key facts about Mali's political history.
Who's in charge?
Prime Minister Modibo Keita, 73, was appointed on 15th January this year. He was previously Prime Minister for three months in 2002, and before this his was appointed "High Representative for Inter-Malian Inclusive Dialogue" on 22nd April 2014, which meant he oversaw recent peace talks with rebels in the north of the country. He is a democratic socialist, and is the third PM to have been appointed by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita who came to power on 4thSeptember 2013 after a period of mutiny from the military and Islamist occupation of the country's north saw the previous government fall apart. As Head of State, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita controls the military, and like his PM is also a democratic socialist.
Is the country stable?
Increasingly, but it has seen a lot of turmoil over recent decades, and much tension still remains. In the early 1990s the nomadic Tuareg people in the North of the country started an insurgency in a bid to win improved rights, and the area was soon taken over by Al-Qaeda as it became increasingly lawless. Mali is a former French colony and, alarmed at the rate at which it was losing territory to hostile forces, the government in Bamako asked France to intervene militarily. They did in 2013, and quickly overran the extremists and took back the terrorists' strongholds in the North. Stability has now somewhat returned since the Tuareg people signed a peace deal with the Malian government this year, but the relationship between the government and the north is far from perfect.
Are attacks like this common?
The country has seen many attacks in recent years and months. Last October, nine UN peace-keepers were killed after a rocket-propelled grenade was launched at their convoy. In March, five restaurant-goers were killed by a machine-gun and grenade attack at the La Terrasse bar in Bamako—reported to have been popular among foreigners. Islamist group Al-Murabitoun claimed responsibility for the attacks. In August, gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN peace-keepers, during a hotel siege in the town of Sevare.
