BAMAKO: Gunmen stormed a hotel in central Mali on Friday, killing at least three people and seizing hostages including several foreigners in an ongoing standoff with the army.
Among the dead were two Malian soldiers, while the body of a white man was seen lying sprawled outside the hotel in the town of Sevare, military sources said.
Kiev confirmed a Ukranian national was among the hostages, while Moscow said it believed a Russian aviation official was also being held. Three South Africans and a French national were also believed to be staying at the hotel.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the early morning attack, and no official comment from the government in the west African country, which is facing increasing jihadist violence despite a peace deal.
A Malian security source said the raid was a failed bid to kidnap several Russian nationals working as UN peacekeepers, who escaped unharmed.
Malian troops surrounded the hotel and shot dead one of the attackers who was wearing an explosive belt, a military source said, adding that two soldiers were killed and three wounded.
"Attackers have taken some foreigners hostage in one of the hotels in the area. The army has completely sealed off the area and the town is in lockdown. They have asked people to stay at home," a local official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
- Sporadic shooting -
He said the hostages could well be UN peacekeepers who tend to stay in hotels in the town, which lies near regional capital Mopti, a key staging post to the vast desert north which fell to Islamist extremists in 2012.
The deadly standoff appeared no closer to resolution many hours after it began, and sporadic shots were heard around the Byblos and neighbouring Debo hotel at around 1500 GMT.
It was the third assault in just a week in Mali, which is still struggling to restore stability despite a landmark peace deal agreed in June to end years of unrest and ethnic divisions.
A number of foreigners have been kidnapped by Islamist militants in Mali in recent years and at least two are still being held hostage by Al-Qaeda's front group in the region.
- 'UN peacekeepers targeted' -
Malian army sources said the target of Friday's assault appeared to be a group of Russian pilots working for MINUSMA, the local UN peacekeeping mission.
"The pilots were evacuated to a Malian military base in Sevare and the jihadists are holed up inside the hotel. Now we must get them out," one source said.
AFP
