Ivory Coast shooting: Security forces 'neutralise six terrorists'

Ivory Coast's security forces "neutralised six terrorists" on Sunday after a deadly attack on a beach resort town that left around a dozen people dead, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said.

"Three hotels in Grand Bassam were attacked this Sunday by armed men. Security and defence forces intervened immediately and were able to neutralise six terrorists. The clean-up operation is under way," he said on state television." 

A national police officer said that the dead include at least four Europeans.

"For the moment, we have a total of 12 dead, including four Europeans ... We don't know yet if there are others. We are doing clean-up operations right now," the officer told security forces. 

Diplomatic reports stated that several people have been wounded in the gunfire.

Grand Bassam, about 40 km east of the commercial capital Abidjan, is a weekend retreat for Abidjan residents and its beaches, bars and hotels are also popular with Westerners.

A Reuters witness saw two wounded people and video taken by a witness showed seven people lying on the ground following the attack. It was not clear if anyone was killed.
Security forces were called to the scene.

The gunmen were not identified and it was unclear if they were affiliated with any militant group.

The incident took place nearly two months after Islamist fighters killed dozens of people in a hotel and cafe frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, raising concern that the reach of militancy in West Africa was spreading.

With Reuters inputs