Anita's killing should deepen resolve to fight terror: Clinton

Washington: The killing of Anita Ashok Datar, the lone American citizen who died in the terrorist attack in Mali, should deepen America's resolve to lead the world to meet the threat posed by radical jihadism, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday.

Mourning the death of Anita, an Indian-American, Clinton said she knew her from her Senate days.

Anita, 41, died in the Mali hotel siege on Friday. She's the only American known to have died in the attack. A former Peace Corp worker in Senegal, Datar was in Mali on an international development project.

The casualty hit home for Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner and senator from New York for eight years.

"I knew Anita as the loving mother of a wonderful seven- year old boy and the former partner of David Garten, one of my senior policy advisors in the Senate," Clinton said in a statement.

"My prayers are with the Datar and Garten families, especially Anita and David's son. My heart breaks thinking of the burden he will now bear on his small shoulders and the courage he will have to show in the days ahead."

"As I said this week, America must wage and win an immediate battle against ISIS, al Qaeda, and other terrorist networks, as well as a generational struggle against radical jihadism," CNN quoted a statement from Clinton as saying.

"We face a choice between fear and resolve. Anita's murder should deepen our resolve. American must lead the world to meet this threat," she said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had mourned Anita's death last week.

"We mourn American Anita Datar and all those lost in Mali Attacks," Kerry had said on Friday.

"We extend condolences to family & friends and stand with the Malian people," he said.

Anita is among the at least 19 victims of terrorist attackers at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali. More than 100 people were taken hostage. The rampage came a week after at least 130 people were killed in Paris by terrorists.