Maryland woman killed in Mali worked to improve global health

WASHINGTON (AP) - Family members of the American killed in a terror attack on a hotel in Mali say her life was devoted to helping others.

A statement from the family of 41-year-old Anita Datar of Takoma Park, Maryland, notes that she was a senior manager at Palladium International Development and the mother of a young son.

The State Department confirmed that Datar was among at least 20 killed in the terror attack Friday in a hotel in Mali’s capital. She was the only American known to have died in the attack.

In its statement, the family said everything Datar did, “she did to help others - as a mother, public health expert, daughter, sister and friend.”

But of “all her accomplishments,” it said, “she was most proud of her son.”