Mali Hotel Attacked; Hostages Taken

12:10 p.m.

French president Francois Hollande says France is ready to help Mali with all means necessary in the wake of the hotel attack in the capital, Bamako.

Hollande asks all French citizens in Mali to make contact with the French Embassy there “in order that everything is made to offer them protection.”

In Belgium, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said there were four Belgians registered at the attacked hotel but it’s unclear if they were taken hostage by the gunmen or not.

Reynders also said there are “15 hostages who have been freed after an intervention” but didn’t provide more details.

11:57 a.m.

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has cut short its tip to Chad where he was attending a meeting of G5 Sahel.

The Mali presidency said on Twitter that Keita will be back to Bamako “in the next hours.”

Meanwhile, France’s national gendarme service says about 50 elite police troops are en route from Paris to Bamako.

A spokesman for the service who was not authorized to be publicly named said they are heading Friday from two different units of special police forces trained for emergency situations.

—Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Paris

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11:52 a.m.

Air France has cancelled its Paris-Bamako flight after gunmen attacked a hotel in the Mali capital.

Air France spokesman Ulli Gendrot said the “3852 flight has been canceled.” It was due later Friday.

The attackers seized about 170 hostages on Friday morning at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

A Malian military official has said at least three people are confirmed dead in the attack and that more than 100 hostages are believed to be held.