BAMAKO, Mali—Mali began a three-day mourning period with flags flying at half-staff on Monday for victims of the assault on a luxury hotel full of foreigners, a day after a dueling claim of responsibility emerged.
The Islamic extremist group, Al-Mourabitoun, that first claimed responsibility for Friday’s assault issued a new audio recording identifying the two gunmen, according to a Mauritanian news site that often receives messages from Malian extremists.
The group said the two were the only assailants in the attack that killed 19 people. Initial reports from witnesses and officials suggested there could have been as many as 10 gunmen. The bodies of only two gunmen were recovered from the scene.
The recording from the Al-Mourabitoun (The Sentinels) group named the gunmen as Abdel Hakim Al-Ansari and Moadh Al-Ansari, Al-Akhbar said in an article posted online Sunday. No nationalities were given, though the name “Al-Ansari” suggests they were both Malian.
Meanwhile, a different extremist group that emerged only this year also issued a claim of responsibility for the attack. The claim, reported Sunday by French media, underscores the shifting alliances and memberships of the extremist groups operating in Mali and nearby countries.
