Mali declares 10-day state of emergency

A 10-day state of emergency has been announced in Mali following an attack on a hotel by suspected Islamist militants in the capital Bamako, in which gunmen killed 19 people.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita also announced three days of mourning, BBC reports.

The president, who came home early from a regional summit in Chad, said two militants had been killed.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliate al-Murabitoun said they carried out the attack.

More than 130 hotel guests were freed when Malian special forces, French special forces and off-duty US servicemen, stormed the Radisson Blu hotel to break the siege.

The National Security Council in the US has condemned the "heinous attack" which has also been deplored by China - three Chinese nationals and a US national are reported to be among the dead.

Earlier reports said at least 27 people had died. A UN official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 12 bodies were found in the basement and 15 on the second floor.

One of the hostages killed was Geoffrey Dieudonne, a member of parliament in Belgium's Wallonia region.