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| Anita Ashok Datar, killed in the Mali attack. |
Datar, of Takoma Park, Maryland, was one of the 27 people killed in yesterday's (Nov. 20) terror attack on a hotel in Mali, The U.S. State Department released this statement on the family's behalf:
"We are devastated that Anita is gone—it's unbelievable to us that she has been killed in this senseless act of violence and terrorism. Anita was one of the kindest and most generous people we know. She loved her family and her work tremendously. Everything she did in her life she did to help others— as a mother, public health expert, daughter, sister and friend. And while we are angry and saddened that she has been killed, we know that she would want to promote education and healthcare to prevent violence and poverty at home and abroad, not intolerance.
"Anita Ashok Datar was born in western Massachusetts and grew up in northern New Jersey. She earned an MPH and MPA from Columbia University's Joseph Mailman School of Public Health and School of International and Public Affairs. She worked in Senegal for two years with the Peace Corps (1997-1999), and has spent much of her career working to advance global health and international development, with a focus on population and reproductive health, family planning, and HIV.
"She was a senior manager at Palladium Group and a founding member of Tulalens (www.tulalens.org), a not-for-profit organization connecting underserved communities with quality health services.
"Of all her accomplishments, she was most proud of her son. She is survived by him, her parents, brother, and many, many friends around the world."
No other U.S. citizens were believed to have died in the attack, carried out by heavily armed Islamic extremists at a Radisson hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako.
“We are devastated that Anita is gone,” said her brother, Sanjeev Datar in a statement.“It’s unbelievable to us that she has been killed in this senseless act of violence and terrorism.”
“Everything she did in her life she did to help others as a mother, public health expert, daughter, sister and friend,” the family statement said. “And while we are angry and saddened that she has been killed, we know that she would want to promote education and healthcare to prevent violence and poverty at home and abroad, not intolerance.”
Datar, 41, was a senior manager at Palladium Group, an international development organisation with offices in Washington, her family said. As a public health expert, she focussed on family planning and HIV issues, work that took her to Africa often in the past 15 years. She also worked in Asia and South America, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The family said that of all her accomplishments, Datar was “most proud of her son”. Her Facebook page is filled with pictures of the boy.
Datar was born in Massachusetts and grew up in New Jersey, her family said. She was in the Peace Corps in Senegal from 1997 to ’99 and had a passion for the rights and well-being of women and girls living in poverty around the world.
She helped found Tulalens, an organization committed to putting low-income women “in charge of their health and the health of their families,” its website says. Datar graduated from Rutgers, and earned master’s degrees in public health and public administration from Columbia.
She helped found Tulalens, an organization committed to putting low-income women “in charge of their health and the health of their families,” its website says. Datar graduated from Rutgers, and earned master’s degrees in public health and public administration from Columbia.
The attack happened at a Radisson Hotel in Bamako, Mali, when heavily armed extremists burst into the upscale hotel, firing in all directions. Al Mourabitoun, an Islamist militant group, claimed it was jointly responsible for the attack, according to Mauritanian news agency Al Akhbar. The group announced it carried out the attack with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the news agency reported.
RELATED: More about Mali
At one point, more than 100 people were held hostage. The terrorists released those who could prove they're Muslim by reciting passages from the Koran. Most of the hotel guests and staff were freed hours later when Malian special forces, French special forces and off-duty US servicemen stormed the hotel to end the siege.
Mali's government announced a 10-day state of emergency and a three-day period of mourning that will begin on Monday.
Besides Datar, the other known dead are:
- Two Belgians, including Geoffrey Dieudonne, an official at the parliament in Belgium's Wallonia region
- Three Chinese, Zhou Tianxiang and Wang Xuanshang and Chang Xuehui were executives from the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp, the company said in a statement on its website
- Six Russians, all employees of the Volga-Dnepr airline, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement
- One Israeli, education consultant Shmuel Benalal
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