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Mali hotels 'come under attack' in Sevare Mali hotel siege: 'Hostage situation' in Sevare
(about 3 hours later)
Gunmen on motorbikes have attacked at least two hotels in the central Malian town of Sevare, witnesses have told the BBC. Soldiers in Mali have surrounded a hotel in the central town of Sevare where suspected Islamist militants are holding at least one foreign hostage, a defence spokesman has told the BBC.
Residents are now hiding in their homes and it is not clear if there have been any casualties. "At this stage we can confirm there are dead and wounded on all sides, and hostages," Lt Col Diarran Kone said.
"We heard someone shouting into a loudhailer that everyone should go inside. Then we heard machine guns," one resident said. Ukraine's foreign ministry says one of its nationals is being held hostage.
Residents told the BBC that before the attack, gunmen on motorbikes warned people via loudhailers to go indoors.
Sevare has an air force base and some UN peacekeepers are in the town.Sevare has an air force base and some UN peacekeepers are in the town.
The BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Mali says the town, which is about 600km (370 miles) north-east of the capital, Bamako, is the trading hub that serves the historic riverside city of Mopti.The BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Mali says the town, which is about 600km (370 miles) north-east of the capital, Bamako, is the trading hub that serves the historic riverside city of Mopti.
Martine Latraye, owner of a small guesthouse in Sevare, told the BBC that the attack started at about 07:30 local time (07:30 GMT). The Byblos Hotel, scene of the ongoing incident, was reportedly attacked early on Friday morning by gunmen who had spent the night at the nearby Debo Hotel.
There are several hotels near each other in the town and it is not exactly clear which of these were targeted. "An armed attack has been carried out on a hotel in Mali, and a Ukrainian national is among the hostages. Jointly with our international partners, we are taking urgent steps to free our citizen," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Mariana Betsa said on Twitter.
The BBC has learned that guests from France, South Africa and Ukraine are staying in the hotels. Our reporter says there are several hotels near each other in the town that are popular with UN workers and those working for non-governmental organisations.
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the gunmen seemed to be targeting the air force base and the hotels. The BBC has learned that guests from France, South Africa and Ukraine are registered at the hotels, but it is not clear if they are caught up in the operation.
"Now the Malian army is here. The soldiers are surrounding the Byblos hotel but we don't know why," he said. UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri refused to say whether any UN members of staff had been affected or were being held hostage in the Byblos Hotel.
"I have heard machine gun fire but also some much heavier artillery." Bah Napo, whose brother owns the Flandres hotel in the same neighbourhood, said: "We have never seen anything like this is Sevare.
"In 2012, the jihadists from the north were stopped at Konna, about 50km from here. So we only saw the war on television. Now that it has come to Sevare we are all traumatised."
Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have been fighting the army in northern Mali for a number of years.
France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in January 2013 to stop their advance south to the capital.
Militancy in Mali