Bamako, Mali : Four gunmen attacked a hotel hosting an EU military training mission in Mali's capital on Monday, with one shot by security guards, according to a source within the mission.
"Four people tried to force their way through the barricade firing shots," the source told AFP. "One of the four was neutralised, we are searching for the three others," the source added, without specifying if the wounded attacker had died.
Shots were heard in the area by witnesses and AFP correspondents from around 2000 GMT.
The hotel is in the same upmarket neighbourhood as the city's Radisson Blu hotel, the site of an attack in November by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists that left 20 people dead.
"EUTM-MALI HQ has been attacked. No EUTM-Mali personnel has been hurt or injured during the attack. EUTM-Mali is... securing the area," the European Union Training Mission-Mali (EUTM) said in a tweet posted around 2010 GMT.
The area was cordoned off and armoured vehicles belonging to the UN and Malian military were on the scene.
"I heard heavy gunfire behind the hotel. Then Malian troops blocked off the area," a witness told AFP.
The EU training mission aims to reinforce the Malian army's ability to engage in combat operations as they battle a terrorist insurgency and rampant banditry across vast swathes of the desert nation.
"Four people tried to force their way through the barricade firing shots," the source told AFP. "One of the four was neutralised, we are searching for the three others," the source added, without specifying if the wounded attacker had died.
Shots were heard in the area by witnesses and AFP correspondents from around 2000 GMT.
"EUTM-MALI HQ has been attacked. No EUTM-Mali personnel has been hurt or injured during the attack. EUTM-Mali is... securing the area," the European Union Training Mission-Mali (EUTM) said in a tweet posted around 2010 GMT.
Advertisement
"I heard heavy gunfire behind the hotel. Then Malian troops blocked off the area," a witness told AFP.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Gunmen Attack EU Military Mission Headquarters In Mali; 1 Attacker Killed Mali Hotel Reopens After Deadly Islamist Siege Militant Group Publishes Photo Of What It Says Were Mali Hotel Attackers Puja Khedkar's Disability Document Has Factory Address, Ration Card Proof Prank Goes Wrong: Woman Falls From 3rd Floor In Mumbai Building, Dies 25,000 Aspirants For Airport Jobs Paying Rs 22,000: A Mumbai Stampede Scare Video: Elderly Man In Dhoti Denied Entry To Bengaluru's GT Mall 10 Years On, 298 Victims Of MH17 Disaster Still Await Justice JoSAA Counselling 2024: All You Need To Know About NIT+System Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.