Sixty hostages freed, 20 people killed in Al-Qaida attack on Burkina Faso hotel
Burkina Faso's communication minister, Remis Dandjinou, told AFP that 33 of the freed hostages were wounded. Another 15 wounded people had arrived at Ouagadougou's university hospital centre.
Members of Burkina Faso's fire brigade are reported to have found up to 10 bodies on the terrace of a restaurant near Splendid hotel, according to the country's interior minister.
Security forces are working with their French counterparts to retake the hotel, according to another government minister.
The rescue operation was still ongoing.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. Citing conversations with the attackers, the group claimed that 30 "crusaders" had been killed in "revenge for the Prophet", according to the US monitoring group SITE.
It follows a deadly raid on a hotel in neighbouring Mali last November, in which 20 people died, including 14 foreigners, as well as attacks by militants in other countries in west Africa.
At least 20 people have been killed and up to 15 injured in an Al-Qaida attack on a hotel in Burkina Faso's capital, popular with UN staff and westerners.
The militants took control of the five-storey Splendid hotel in Ouagadougou's business district, burning cars outside and firing in the air to drive back crowds before security forces arrived, prompting an intense exchange of gunfire.
One witness told Associated Press that he saw four men attack the hotel and neighbouring Cappuccino Cafe at about 7.30pm local time. Another witness said that when security forces arrived, they turned around rather than confront the attackers.
Both the hotel and the cafe are popular with United Nations staff and foreigners. It is located in a busy central area of the capital, not far from the airport.
Robert Sangare, director of Ouagadougou's university hospital centre, said: "We have received around 15 wounded people. There are people with bullet wounds and people who are injured because of falls." He said that the injured patients had told him they had seen around 20 bodies in the hotel.
The French embassy said on its website that a "terrorist attack" was underway and urged people to avoid the area. France's ambassador to the country said a curfew had been put in place in Ouagadougou from 2300 GMT to 0600. Gilles Thibault said on his Twitter account that the attack in its former colony was ongoing and that the embassy had set up a crisis unit for its citizens. More than 3,500 French nationals live in the west African country, according to foreign ministry data.
An Air France flight from Paris to Ouagadougou was diverted to neighbouring Niger.
The hotel is sometimes used by French troops with Operation Barkhane, a force based in Chad and set up to combat Islamic militants across Africa's vast, arid Sahel region.
It is understood to be the first time militants have targeted Ouagadougou.
A senior member of AQIM had in December called for Muslims in several countries, including Burkina Faso, to wage jihad. AQIM, along with two other groups, claimed responsibility for killing 20 people and taking hostages in the capital of neighbouring Mali in November.
The US embassy in Ouagadougou tweeted: "We are closely following the situation downtown."
Burkina Faso, a largely Muslim country, has been in turmoil since its longtime president was ousted in a popular uprising in late 2014. Last September members of a presidential guard launched a coup that lasted only about a week. The transitional government returned to power until Burkina Faso's November election ushered in new leaders.