Gunmen attack EU military base in Mali

Reports from international news sources say gunmen have attacked a hotel in the Malian capital Bamako. One person is reported killed during the attack Monday March 21, 2016.

The reports citing a Defence Ministry source and a witness say the hotel serves as a base for EU military training mission in the country to train Malian soldiers.

The attackers targeted Bamako’s Nord-Sud Hotel, which serves as headquarters for the mission of nearly 600 EU military personnel, the reports say.

“The attackers tried to force through the entry and the guards posed in front of the entrance opened fire. One attacker was killed. The gunfire continued for several minutes,” the Telegraph quoted a witness as saying.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The jihadist group known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for an attack November 2015 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako that killed dozens of people.

The same group attacked a beach resort in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast last week killing about 19 people.