Mali in mourning after at least 21 killed in hotel attack

Mali on Saturday began three days of national mourning and declared a state of emergency after a nine-hour siege by jihadist gunmen at a top hotel in the capital left 21 people dead.

The assault, claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Murabitoun group led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, ended after Malian and international troops stormed the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako.

The attack came as fears mount over terrorist threats a week after devastating attacks in Paris that killed 130 people claimed by the Islamic State group, which also said it had downed a Russian passenger jet in Egypt weeks before.

The Malian government declared a 10-day nationwide state of emergency from midnight on Friday over the assault and called three days of mourning for the victims, who included several Russians, three Chinese, an American and a Belgian.

"Terror will not win" and "long live Mali, terrorism shall not pass," President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a televised address, revising an earlier death toll to 21.

Malian security sources, who had reported a higher toll, said more than 100 people were taken hostage in the raid while at least three "terrorists" were killed or blew themselves up.

US President Barack Obama condemned the "appalling" attack, adding that "this barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge" of extremist violence.

Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.

The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year, but large swathes of Mali remain lawless.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned Friday's "horrific terrorist attack," suggesting the violence was aimed at destroying peace efforts in the country.