Three Chinese Nationals were killed in Mali's capital city Bamako after gunmen seiged the  Radisson Blu hotel on Friday and took several people hostage, the Chinese embassy has confirmed, Xinhua reported.

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The Islamic extremists, armed with firearms and grenades, stormed the five star hotel, killing at least 22 people.

The gunmen held at least 170 people hostage. A majority of them were foreigners, according to Salif Traore, Mali's Security Minister.

The security forces, who devised a plan to rescue the hostages, rushed into each floor of the hotel.

This rescue operation was aided by the United Nations peacekeeping mission called MINUSMA, along with the troops from United States and France.

Four citizens from China were rescued from the vicinity and are now in a stable condition, according to Wang Yi, the political counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Mali.

A majority of the guests in the hotel are foreigners from France, Belgium, Germany, India, Canada, Ivory Coast and Turkey.

The siege is perceived by the French government to be an attack based on political interest, according to CCTV America.

A jihadist group named Al Mourabitounes based in the northern part of Mali have claimed responsibility for the hotel attacks, according to a statement pubished by Al-Jazeera.

Al Mourabitounes was founded two years ago after the group's leader left Al-Qaida in order to merge with another militant group from Mali.

The statement released on Friday said that Mourabitones carried out the attack in collaboration with the Sahara Emirate, another group associated with Al-Qaida.

In 2013, a French military operation was staged in Mali to counteract the influence of Islamic terrorists controlling the northern part of the country. This was part of French President Francois Hollande's first foreign interventions.

However, this move also made France a target for the terrorists.

"We should yet again stand firm and show our solidarity with a friendly country, Mali," said Hollande.

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