Bamako: Eighty among 170 hostages held by Islamist gunmen have been freed from a luxury hotel in Mali's capital as government special forces moved floor by floor to clear the building, Mali's state broadcaster and a security source said.

‘The attackers are still inside. We're hearing gunfire from time to time,’ said a witness outside the Radisson Blu hotel.

Gunmen went on the rampage at a luxury hotel in Mali's capital on Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in a suspected Islamist hostage-taking that has left at least three people dead.