Gunmen have attacked a hotel used by westerners in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, taking hostages and reportedly killing at least 20 people.
Eyewitnesses said two car bombs went off outside the Splendid hotel at around 19:30 local time (same as GMT).
Three to four masked men then stormed the Splendid Hotel, which is used by UN staff and westerners, witnesses said.
Robert Sangare, a hospital director in the city, said at least 20 people had died and 15 more wounded.
Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said security forces would launch a raid to free hostages. He said he was “not ruling out possible support of foreign forces including French special forces”.
One group that monitors jihadist networks said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrebclaimed it was behind the attack.
Witnesses said the gunmen had initially entered the Cappuccino cafe near the hotel. One employee at the cafe told Agence France Presse that “several people” had been killed there.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing exchanges of gunfire between the men and security forces, as well as sporadic gunfire from inside the four-star hotel close to the country’s international airport.
A similar attack by Islamist militants on a hotel in neighbouring Mali in November left 20 people dead.
Burkina Faso had recently held its first presidential election since a coup earlier last year.
That coup toppled long-time leader Blaise Compaore, who had governed for 27 years.
“We are still in a context of political fragility, so I think the timing of this attack is meaningful,” Cynthia Ohayon, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told the BBC from Ouagadougou.
“The country has long borders with Mali and Niger, and we know there are armed groups present on the border, so this was probably something we had coming.”
