Ivory Coast Attack 16 Dead Attacker Spoke In Arabic

A dozen of ambulances headed to the Ivory Coast beach resort popular with tourists, joined by military vehicles with heavy machine guns and armed traditional hunters known as Dozo.

Over fourteen civilians and two soldiers have been killed in an attack by gunmen at an Ivory Coast beach according to report.

                     

Witnesses described panic as the attackers sprayed bullets across the beach and opened fire with rifles as they entered the L'Etoile du Sud (Southern Star) hotel in Grand-Bassam, which is around 25 miles east of the capital Abidjan.

The hotel was one of three targeted, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

The raiders were "heavily armed and wearing balaclavas" and they "fired at guests", a witness told AFP news agency, adding that the large hotel had been "full of expats in the current heatwave".

One of the dead was French, it has been confirmed, while a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said they were "urgently" trying to establish whether any Britons had been among the victims.

Witness Luc Gnago told Sky News he had seen six bodies on the beach - one of which he thought was "an assailant" - and one in the hotel, which he described as "a white man".

Another witness, Marcel Guy, told the Associated Press he saw at least four gunmen toting Kalashnikov rifles and hunting for victims on the beach. He said one approached two children, and spoke in Arabic.