Four dead as Jihadists storm Mali hotels

Jihadists have stormed two hotels in central Mali, seizing at least six hostages and killing three Malian soldiers and a UN peacekeeper in one of the most brazen attacks in months, defence officials said.

The Islamic militants assaulted one hotel in the town of Sevare, and then after an exchange of gunfire moved on to the Hotel Byblos next door where they grabbed between six and 10 people, said Lt Col Diarran Kone.

“The operation to free the hostages is ongoing,” he said.

Northern Mali fell under the control of jihadists in 2012 but a French-led offensive ousted them from power in early 2013.

Remnants of the group have staged a number of attacks on UN peacekeepers and Malian forces thoughtoy’s assault on a hotel known to be popular with UN pilots marks a serious escalation.

Sevare and the nearby town of Mopti in central Mali have long been the heart of the country’s tourism industry and had been spared from the attacks more common in the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu.

Mali’s jihadist groups have been stepping up their attacks further south from their strongholds in the north.

In March, a masked gunman opened fire at a restaurant popular with foreigners in Bamako, the capital, killing five people.

In June, gunmen killed three soldiers in a village near the Mauritania border.

The next day extremists briefly occupied a village near Ivory Coast.

The extremist group Ansar Dine said it was behind those attacks