Two Europeans among dead in Mali attack

Militants have killed five people in a gun attack on a restaurant in Mali’s capital, including a French citizen and a Belgian security officer with the EU delegation in the country.

Mali's desert north, where French forces wrested control of territory from separatist rebels and al-Qaeda-linked fighters, is plagued by frequent political violence - but this is the first militant attack for years in Bamako, in the south.

Three Malians were killed in the violence in and around La Terrasse restaurant, which is popular with expatriates, the government said.

The attack began at about 1.00am this morning and left nine people wounded, said a senior security official, adding that two people had been arrested.

Senior police officer Falaye Kant said: “There were two individuals who were armed and hooded. One burst into the La Terrasse restaurant and opened fire on people. Then he got into a vehicle in which the other was waiting.

“As they fled down a neighbouring street, they shot a Belgian man who was in front of his house. He’s dead. Not far away they came across a police vehicle and threw a grenade, killing the driver,” he said.

Those killed included a girl who died in hospital, he said.

Witnesses said police secured the street where the restaurant shooting took place because of unexploded grenades.

Two international experts with the United Nations Mine Action Service were among the wounded, according to initial reports, said Mongi Hamdi, UN special envoy for the peacekeeping mission to Mali.

French forces took control of northern Mali two years ago but insurgents continue to mount attacks. France has more than 3,000 soldiers in West Africa as part of a counter-insurgency force against al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Mali’s government signed a preliminary peace proposal last Sunday meant to end fighting with northern separatists, but the Tuareg-led rebels demanded more time before agreeing to any accord.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said one of the victims of the Bamako attack was a Belgian security officer with the EU delegation in the capital. “This terrorist act strengthens even more our resolve to help fight terrorism throughout the region,” she said.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius confirmed a French citizen was among those killed and said the attack strengthened France's resolve to "fight terrorism in all its forms".

The French embassy in Mali said it had alerted its citizens and beefed up security