With his country stepping up efforts to crush the Islamic State (ISIS), Russian President Vladimir on Saturday called for greater international effort to combat terrorism, after 19 people were killed in yet another terror attack on a luxury hotel in Mali.
After gunmen took hostages and killed 19 guests at the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako, Putin sent a telegram of condolences to Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has already declared three days of national mourning in his country following the terror incident.
In the same telegram, the Russian leader called for "the widest international cooperation" to confront global terrorism, Reuters quoted a statement from the Kremlin as saying.
Six Russians who were employees of the regional airline Volga-Dnepr were killed in the terror attack at the Mali hotel, Russia's foreign ministry said. Six others have been rescued, it added.
The African militant jihadist organisation Al Mourabitoun, as well as the al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have already claimed responsibility for the Mali terror attack. Two militants were also killed by authorities during the incident.
Visiting the site of the terror attack on Saturday, President Keita pledged to also move to combat terrorism.
"Mali will not shut down because of this attack. Paris and New York were not shut down and Mali won't be. Terrorism will not win," Keita said, as quoted by Reuters.
Another leader of a rising superpower, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also condemned the "cruel and savage" attack, which killed three Chinese executives of a state-run railway firm.
"China will strengthen cooperation with the international community, resolutely crack down on violent terrorist operations that devastate innocent lives and safeguard world peace and security," China's Foreign Ministry quoted Xi as saying in a statement on its website.
The attack on the Mali hotel came just days after ISIS militants attacked a concert ground, a football stadium and restaurants in Paris, France.
