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| Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara speaks as he stands between hotel manager Mr Able and army chief Soumaila Bakayoko at the hotel Etoile du Sud in Grand BassamLuc Gnago/Reuters |
President Alassane Ouattara said 14 civilians and two soldiers had died. He added that
six attackers had been killed after launching attacks on three hotels in the seaside town.
Gunmen seized L'Etoile du Sud (the Southern Star) hotel, where a number of expats were.
One French citizen is reported to have died, while nationalities of the other victims are yet to
be disclosed.
A US delegation which was scheduled to arrive at the Etoile du Sud hotel was the target of
the attack, according to a Fox News report. The group had not reached the hotel at the time
of the shooting. A diplomatic source in the region told the news organisation that there were
no suggestions that US citizens had either been killed or injured in the attack.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the "cowardly attack" and pledged to bring
the perpetrators to justice.
"France will bring its logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast to find the attackers,"
Hollande said in a statement seen by Reuters. "[France] will pursue and intensify its
cooperation with its partners in the fight against terrorism."
AQIM said three "heroes" had launched the deadly hotel assault. "By the grace of Allah
and His granting of success, three heroes from the knights of Qaedat al-Jihad in the Islamic
Maghreb were able to storm the tourist resort 'Grand Bassam,' situated east of the city of
Abidjan, in Ivory Coast," SITE Intelligence Group quoted AQIM as saying.
Local trader Koba Maiga was at the mosque when he heard bullets being discharged.
"We had the war here a few years ago, so we know automatic weapons when we hear them.
Initially no one in town thought much of it though. On Sundays, there are sometimes clashes
between the security forces and youths from Abidjan who come down to the coast and
cause trouble on the beach," he said.
"It was carnage. They shouted 'Allahu Akbar' [God is great]. They were getting people to
shout those words and they killed anyone who didn't. There were at least four of them.
Three walked side-by-side along the beach and there was a fourth man who finished off any
survivors," Maiga added.
"A lot of people ran out into the sea to escape. So apart from the people who died from
gunshots there may be people who have drowned and have been swept out to sea. They
were sub-Saharan Africans. Even though they wore balaclavas everyone saw they had
brown hands. Now it is calm, the Ivorian army is here."
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