The Russian Embassy in Mali: the hostages have Russian – BBC Russian

In Sevara, a town in central Mali, there are several hotels and Air Force Base

Among the hostages held by gunmen at the “Byblos” in the Malian city of Sevara, there is one Russian, according to the Russian Embassy in Bamako.

According to the press attache of the Russian embassy in Mali Viktor Gorelov, is an employee of airline “UTair”.

Reuters referring to the Malian military said earlier that unknown stole three Russian pilots, but then this information to the Russian embassy did not confirm.

The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in “Twitter” that among the abducted is a citizen of Ukraine.

On Friday, unknown attacked at once on two hotels in Sevara city in central Mali, one of the hotels – “Byblos” which often stop foreigners, including a multidisciplinary staff of the UN mission in Mali.

The attackers continue to hold hostages, the number specified. According to Reuters, the invaders keep at least 10 hostages. According to the latest reports, the attack killed eight people, including three soldiers of the Malian army.

So far, none of the extremist group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Sevara, but Malian authorities tend to blame the incident on the radical Islamists operating in the north of the country.