Gunmen have attacked a hotel used by Westerners in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, taking hostages and reportedly killing at least 20 people.

Several masked men stormed the Splendid Hotel taking hostages after car bombs went off outside, eyewitnesses said.

French ambassador Gilles Thibault tweeted that an operation to free the hostages was under way. Witnesses said part of the hotel was on fire.

Hospital chief Robert Sangare said at least 20 people died and 15 were hurt.

One group that monitors jihadist networks said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed it was behind the attack.

Witnesses said the gunmen had initially entered the Cappuccino cafe near the hotel - used by UN staff and Westerners. One employee at the cafe told Agence France Presse that "several people" had been killed there.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing exchanges of gunfire between the men and security forces, as well as sporadic gunfire from inside the four-star hotel, which is close to the country's international airport.

The SITE monitoring group, which analyses jihadist networks, said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed it was behind the attack.

The monitoring group specifically stated that those responsible were the al-Murabitoun group, which is based in the Sahara desert in northern Mali and contains fighters loyal to the veteran Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Last month, the group announced it had merged with AQIM. Belmokhtar, a one-eyed commander who fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, was once a member of AQIM but left after a falling-out with its leadership.

Belmokhtar has been declared dead many times, the latest by a US air strike on 14 June last year in Libya - according to Libyan authorities - but his death has not been formally confirmed.

AQIM and al-Murabitoun said they were behind an attack on a hotel in Burkina Faso's neighbour Mali in November, that left 20 people dead.

(BBC)