U.S. special operations forces are assisting in the Mali hotel hostage situation, CNN is reporting.
Hostages released from the Radisson Blu have started to talk to reporters about their experiences when gunmen stormed the luxury hotel this morning.
One of the released hostages says he heard the gunmen talking in English.
Another freed hostage described "horrible" scenes in the hotel.
"I was inside, I saw the dead bodies in the hall. It is horrible what is happening inside the hotel. I got out when the security forces enter the hotel," the witness told France 24.
The U.S. State Department has also issued guidelines for American citizens in Mali, saying that they should "shelter in place."
The UK's Foreign Office has just tweeted updated travel advice for British nationals in Mali, advising them to stay indoors and follow the instructions of the local authorities.
France's BFMTV has published this video showing footage from Mali's state broadcaster, ORTM, which has scenes from the Radisson Blu in Bamako. The footage shows special forces entering the hotel as well as hostages leaving it.
Twenty Indian nationals who were among those held hostage at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako are safe, and the Indian embassy is in touch with them, an Indian diplomat has told the Times of India.
The Times of India has also spoken to an Indian businessman, Dev Bulani, from inside the Radisson Blu.
"We are safe and not in danger," Bulani, who travels between Dubai and Bamako on business and who has a permanent apartment inside the hotel complex, said.
Bulani said that his apartment is just a few meters away from the scene of the fighting but is separated from the area by a swimming pool.
"The French and Mali military is protecting us and have told us we will soon be shifted out," Bulani said.
"We earlier heard heavy gunshots but it has reduced now. Maybe the army has managed to bring the situation under control."
The gunmen who stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali's capital, were armed with AK-47s, UN mission spokesman Olivier Salgado has told the Financial Times, citing a Malian security source.
Malian state TV says 80 people who were in the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako when gunmen stormed it this morning have now been freed, ABC News reports.
Some 138 people are still being held hostage at the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, the hotel has said.
Sky News says that the hostages include 125 guests and 13 staff members.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Malian Special Forces Storm Hotel To Free Hostages
Malian special forces have entered the hotel in the capital, Bamako, where gunmen had been holding dozens of people hostage.
The gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel earlier on November 20, taking 140 guests and 30 employees hostages, the hotel chain said.
The state-run ORTM channel reported that the special forces had released some 80 of them.
Security Minister Salif Traore said 30 others escaped on their own.
China’s media earlier reported that some 10 Chinese citizens were sheltering inside their hotel rooms, while India said 20 of its nationals were among the hostages.
Islamist fighters, some with links to Al-Qaeda, occupied Northern Mali for most of 2012 before they were ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013.
Islamist groups have since continued to wage attacks in the country.