Twelve killed in Mali hotel siege

Twelve people were killed, two of them foreigners, in a hostage siege at a hotel in central Mali that ended early Saturday when government troops stormed the building, the army said.

"There are 12 dead in all," an army officer said after the operation at the Hotel Byblos in Sevare, listing the fatalities as five "terrorists", five soldiers and two "white people", whose identity was being checked.

The body of one of the foreign victims had lain in front of the hotel since Friday when the gunmen stormed the building, the officer said.

A source said that "a number of hostages" had been freed from the hotel, including five foreigners, although their nationalities were not specified.

Located a few kilometres from the regional capital Mopti, Sevare is a key staging post on the road to Mali's desert north which fell to Islamic extremists in 2012.

The UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) said in a statement Friday that "reports indicate that a member of the international personnel associated with MINUSMA was killed in the attack".

Sources said three South Africans, a Frenchman and a Ukrainian had been registered at the hotel at the time of the attack. A Russian diplomat said a Russian was among the hostages.

A source said that a Russian man "hidden inside the building" had supplied "useful information" to Malian forces during the siege.

Gunmen had burst into the hotel at around 7:00 am (0700 GMT) on Friday, according to the government. At least one of the attackers was said to be wearing an explosives belt.

A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Mali told the RIA Novosti agency that the Russian hostage was an employee of UTAir, an aviation company that works with the UN peacekeeping mission.

French President Francois Hollande said French citizens could also "possibly" be caught up in the attack.  No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.