Malian commandos have stormed Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali after Islamist gunmen linked to al Qaeda, took 170 people including many foreigners hostage.
Many of the hostages have escaped or been freed, but there were conflicting reports on the number of fatalities. It is believed that the current death toll is 27.
Photo by Harouna Traore - AP
Troops assist a hostage to leave Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako to safety
Troops assist a hostage to leave Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako to safety
The commandos are also still trying to dislodge Islamist gunmen from the upper floors of the hotel.
Northern Mali based al-Mourabitoun, an African jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack. The group headed by former al-Qaida fighter - Mokhtar Belmokhtar, was formed two years ago, and is made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs.
Minister of Internal Security Colonel Salif Traoré hours earlier, said three people had been killed and two wounded by the gunmen, who burst through security at the hotel entrance at 7 a.m (0700 GMT), spraying the area with gunfire and shouting "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great" in Arabic.
The hotel lobby after the attack
The hotel lobby after the attack
According to Reuters, State television said 80 hostages had left the building by midday, but an hour later the hotel's website said 124 guests and 13 staff were still inside.
Some people were freed by the attackers after showing they could recite verses from the Koran, while others were brought out by security forces or managed to escape under their own steam.
One of the rescued hostages, celebrated Guinean singer Sékouba 'Bambino' Diabate, said he had overheard two of the assailants speaking in English as they searched the room next to his.
The website of the French newspaper Le Monde quoted Diabate as saying the attackers had spoken with a Nigerian accent.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita cut short a trip to a regional summit in Chad to return to Bamako, his office said. French President Francois Hollande said France would "use all the means available to us on the ground to free the hostages".
Earlier this year, al-Mourabitoun claimed responsibility for the death of five people in March in an attack on a restaurant in Bamako; a suicide attack on a group of UN peacekeepers in northern Mali in April in which at least three people died; and an attack on a hotel in Sévaré in central Mali in August in which 17 people were killed.