At least 12 killed as 24-hour long hotel siege in Mali ends

Bullet holes in the walls of the Hotel Byblos in the central Malian town of Sevare after gunmen stormed the hotel on August 7. (Photo:AFP)

At least 12 people including four foreign UN contractors died in a hostage siege at a hotel in central Mali that ended after government troops stormed the building Saturday.

"There are 12 dead in all," an army officer told AFP after the operation at the Hotel Byblos in Sevare, listing the fatalities as five "terrorists", five soldiers and "two white people".