Gunmen have opened fire on a hotel being used as a base for an EU military training base in Mali's capital, Bamako.
A witness said the attackers tried to force their way through the entrance of the Nord-Sud hotel when the guards posted at the front opened fire.
They said: "The attackers tried to force through the entry and the guards posed in front of the entrance opened fire.
"One attacker was killed. The gunfire continued for several minutes".
A Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed that shots had been fired at the hotel.
Colonel Diarran Kone said: "The security forces arrived on the scene a half hour ago. I don't have more information than that for the moment".
No EU personnel were hurt in the attack.
The attack comes just months a siege at the city's Radisson Blu hotel.
If the attack was carried out by Islamist gunmen it will be the latest in a string of terror attacks across the region.
Mali is currently fighting an insurgency by Islamist militants in the north of the country with the help of French security forces.
Last week, the terror group al-Qaeda in the Magreb claimed responsibility for an attack on a beachfront resort in Ivory Coast which left 19 people dead.
Additional reporting by Reuters
