Bamako, Mali - Two South African nationals are among four foreign hostages freed in a pre-dawn paramilitary raid on a besieged hotel in central Mali.
However, amid reports that three foreigners died during the 20-hour siege in Sévaré, there are worries for a third South African who was understood also to be staying at the Byblos Hotel.
The South Africans, along with one Russian and one Ukrainian freed at the same time, are contractors or staff of the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma).
Mali’s information minister Choguel Maiga said there had still been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
”Seven people have been arrested and are being questioned now,” he said.
The siege began at about 7am on Friday when suspected terrorists rode on motorbikes through the centre of Sevare, near Mopti, shouting into loudhailers.
”They told us to go indoors. Not long afterwards we heard the first shooting, the some loud explosions,” said Sévaré hotel owner Martine Latraye.
The gunmen first attacked a Malian army barracks but moved quickly to an area of the town with several hotels, including the Lebanese-owned Byblos, which is popular among foreigners.
Malian soldiers closed off the area then surrounded the hotel but the militants were already inside and had taken hostages.
The body of one white man, whose nationality still has not been confirmed, lay in the street outside the Byblos for much of Friday.
The raid was launched while it was still dark by members of the GIGN, an elite wing of the Malian gendarmerie.
The final death toll is still unclear but includes at least five Malian soldiers and three gunmen, one of whom was wearing an explosive belt.
Mali’s crisis began in 2012 when separatist Tuaregs launched a rebellion against the state, demanding independence.
They were supported by Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda. France intervened militarily in January 2013 to oust the Islamists who had taken control of the north of the vast country.
A UN mission (Minusma) was deployed in July 2013 and is 10 000-strong.
In recent months sporadic attacks have increasingly taken place in the south and centre of the country where the French and UN presence is limited.
This was the first time Sévaré - a major trading point in the centre of the country - has been targeted.
ANA