20 killed in al-Qaeda attack on Burkina Faso hotel, counter operations on

At least 20 people have been killed and another 15 wounded in an ongoing al-Qaeda attack on a hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso popular with United Nations staff and westerners.

Gunshots and explosions rocked Ouagadougou's four-star Splendid hotel and the nearby "Cappuccino" restaurant last night as Burkinabe forces prepared an assault to rescue hostages still trapped inside the hotel.

Officials said French forces could join a counter-assault on the hotel, where assailants were apparently still holed up more than three hours after the attack began.

The attack comes less than two months after a jihadist hostage siege at the luxury Radisson Blu Hotel in the Malian capital Bamako in November, in which 20 people died including 14 foreigners.

"We know that there are victims and there are hostages. Currently the area is blocked by security forces waiting for an assault to free the hostages," Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said.

Around 10 vehicles were on fire in the streets near the hotel in Ouagadougou, not far from the city's international airport.

The head of the city's main hospital confirmed at least 20 dead and another 15 injured, and witnesses said the assailants were still holed up in the 147-room hotel.

A Cappuccino staff member, reached by telephone, also said several people had been killed at the restaurant, but was not able to give an exact toll.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to US-based monitoring group SITE.

The "mujahideen brothers" of AQIM "broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion", SITE quoted the group as saying.

Sporadic exchanges of fire could be heard between the attackers and security forces near the hotel, which often has UN staff among its guests and has security checks at its entrances.

Barry said Burkina Faso may enlist the support of French special forces, who have a permanent presence in the country, to deal with the unfolding situation.

An AFP reporter at one point saw three men clad in turbans firing at the scene on Avenue Kwame Nkrumah, one of Ouagadougou's main thoroughfares.

A witness also reported seeing four assailants who were of Arab or white appearance and "wearing turbans".