A ten－day， nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Mali following the attack
on a hotel in the capital， Bamako ，... by suspected Islamist militants.
The government says 21 people were killed，... including two gunmen，... at the Radisson
Blu hotel. China′s state－run Xinhua news agency says
three Chinese nationals are among the dead. The U.S. State Department said one U.S. citizen
was killed. A Malian jihadi group and a regional branch
of al－Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mali has been fighting Islamist extremists since 2012 when militants took over much of
the north of the country. Local and French forces managed to drive them
out in 2013，... but groups have reemerged in the center of the country in recent months.