Ivory Coast hotel shooting leaves at least 12 dead

Bodies lie on the beach at Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast

Four gunmen armed with machine-guns and hand grenades have gone on the rampage at a popular hotel in Ivory Coast, leaving at least 12 people dead. The attackers were 'heavily armed and wearing balaclavas, fired at guests at the L'Etoile du Sud (Southern Star), a large hotel which was full of expats in the current heatwave', a witness said.
It is unclear who is behind the attack but the four gunmen have reportedly targeted two hotels near the beach in Grand Bassam. Video footage, filmed from a balcony at the hotel, has also been posted online showing the moment people ran for their lives as the gunmen opened fire.
Unconfirmed reports have emerged that several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack, with witnesses describing how the gunmen arrived on the beach via a boat.
Attacks in recent months on luxury hotels in the capitals of neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have left dozens of people dead, leaving West African nations scrambling to boost security in the face of a growing jihadist threat. Analysts have voiced fears that Islamist attacks could spread to countries such as Ivory Coast and Senegal, and the region's US-led Flintlock military exercises that wrapped up recently focused on the need to counter jihadism.
In Burkina Faso and Mali, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for deadly attacks on hotels popular with foreigners in November 2015 and in January this year. The Mali attack in November left 20 people dead, while gunmen killed 30 people in the assault on a top hotel in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou in January.