Two dead after gunmen storm Mali resort

At least two people have been killed in an attack by gunmen at a luxury resort outside Mali's capital Bamako

The establishment is popular with Western expatriates, the security ministry said, but 36 guests had been rescued.

Gunmen stormed Le Campement Kangaba near Dougourakoro, to the east of the capital Bamako, a resort foreign residents often visit for weekend breaks.

"At first we thought they were armed bandits but we know how armed bandits operate, they don’t hold territory, so now we think it is a terrorist attack," Mali's Security Minister Salif Traore told journalists outside the entrance to the resort late Sunday, part of which was on fire.

Malian security forces, United Nations peacekeeping mission vehicles and French military armored vehicles were surrounding the resort, according to the Reuters news agency.

A helicopter was circling overhead.

A spokesman for French forces in Mali declined to immediately comment.

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