CRI听力:Malian Government Declares Nationwide State of Emergency

Following last week's attacks in Paris, Friday has once again become a day of rampant massacre, this time in Mali.

The President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared a national state of emergency from Friday midnight, and also three days of national mourning.

"Declaring a state of emergency from today, Friday 20th November, starting at midnight. Flags will be at half mast throughout the national territory and in our embassies and consulates. Three days of national mourning, starting from Monday 23rd November."

A U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has been helping local authorities handle the crisis.

"The Secretary-General condemns the horrific terrorist attacks at the Radisson hotel in Bamako which killed an unknown number of civilians and injured many more. He expresses his sincere condolences to the government of Mali and the bereaved families and wishes a speedy recovery to the wounded victims of this attack. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali has been assisting the Malian authorities in the handling of this crisis."

Early on Friday, seven gunmen entered Radisson Blu hotel, taking hostage 140 guests of different nationalities as well as some 30 hotel staff.

Some hostages later succeeded in escaping by their own means while the majority of them were rescued by the Malian special forces.

In a speech at a regional summit in Malaysia, U.S. President Barack Obama described Friday's raid and hostage incident in Mali as "another awful reminder of the scourge of terrorism."

He called on the allies and partners of the United States to step up efforts to crack down on terrorist attacks.

"We will stand with the people of Mali as they work to rid their country of terrorists and strengthen their democracy. With allies and partners the United States will be relentless against those who target our citizens. We'll continue to root out terrorists. We will not allow these killers to have a safe haven."

Jihadist Al-Murabitoun group based in northern Mali has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At the beginning of this year, the group had pledged allegiance to ISIS but later withdrew from it.

It was also responsible for a shooting attack on a restaurant popular with foreigners in Bamako on March 7 this year, which killed five people and wounded nine others.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.