Hillary Clinton: Death Of U.S. Citizen In Mali Attack Should Deepen Resolve To Fight Terrorism
FLANDERS, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton has denounced the murder of a U.S. woman killed in a terrorist attack in a Mali hotel on Friday.
Anita Ashok Datar, 41, was one of at least 20 people killed in the attack by Islamic extremists at a Radisson Hotel in Bamako, the capital of the West African Country, the State Department said.
Clinton said Datar's former partner, David Garten, worked for her as a senior policy advisor in the Senate.
Clinton released a statement on Saturday, saying the killing should deepen the United States' resolve against terrorism.
"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," Clinton said.
Clinton also remembered Datar as the "loving mother of a wonderful 7-year-old boy."
"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," Clinton added.
Datar most recently lived in Takoma Park, Maryland. Her family said in a statement released by the State Department that she was born in western Massachusetts and grew up in northern New Jersey.
Datar graduated from Mount Olive High School in Flanders, New Jersey back in 1991, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported.
Classmate Tara Elms Henderson spoke fondly of her.
"It's a shame and it's sad, and we're all mourning here. Her whole high school class, for sure, is stunned," she told Rivera.
Henderson urged people to donate to Datar's health care non-profit Tulalens.
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