Mali on Saturday began 3 days of national mourning and declared a state of emergency after a nine-hour siege by jihadist group Al-Murabitoun gunmen at a top hotel in the capital left at least 27 people dead.

According to local television and security sources, special forces staged a floor-by-floor rescue at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako to end the siege.

French special forces had been participating in operations alongside Malians. Two US special forces troops who happened to be at the US embassy for meetings assisted the rescue of 6 Americans.

Many countries had long been looking for Belmokhtar, head of the Al-Murabitoun group. The one-eyed jihadist is also accused of planning a hostage-taking at a gas plant in Algeria in 2013, in which dozens of foreign workers were killed.

3 security guards had been wounded while an AFP correspondent saw a police officer, who had been shot, being evacuated by security forces, a paramedic said.

The insurgents are believed to have entered the hotel around 0700 GMT at the same time as a car with diplomatic plates, with many guests in their rooms.

The nationalities of the victims have not yet been revealed, although a Belgian regional assembly official, in Mali for a convention, was among those killed.

India said twenty of its nationals were freed, while China said at least seven of its nationals were freed. 7 Turkish Airlines crew members, 2 Germans, 7 Algerians and 12 Air France employees were also freed.

Malian soldiers and special forces were at the scene after the attack began, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and French troops deployed in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.