Suspected Islamist militants have attacked a hotel in central Malian town of Sevare, killing at least eight people, including four solders, three militants and a U.N staff member, and taking several local and western guests hostage.

The suspected Al Qaeda terrorists stormed the Byblos hotel, which is reportedly popular with U.N. staff, foreign troops and tourists, in Sevare - about 600 km northeast of the capital Bamako - early on Friday in an apparent attempt to kidnap Western hotel guests, according to France24.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has confirmed the attack, saying that one of its workers is among the dead.

"Early this morning, unidentified armed men launched an attack on a Malian military site in the town of Sevaré, in the Mopti region. The attackers, who were pushed back by the Malian Armed Forces, then took refuge in a hotel in town (Byblos)," a statement by the mission said,

"This morning as I was leaving for work I heard shots and saw smoke coming from the Hotel Debo. The area is surrounded by soldiers who told us to return to our homes," a resident told the Associated Press.

Malian security forces, however, managed to rescue a number of hostages, including five foreigners, according to AFP. They also said an unknown number of hostages were still being held at the hotel.

"We can not say that everything is finished, but a number of hostages were freed by Malian forces deployed around the Hotel Byblos in Sevare," a military source told AFP.

Malian armed forces said they continued to surround the hotel and an operation to free remaining hostages was underway, AP reported.

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