UPDATE: (Graphic Photo) Gunmen scream 'Allah Akbar' and kill 12 people including four Europeans at Ivory Coast beach resort

Suspected al Qaeda gunmen who stormed a popular tourist resort in the Ivory Coast killing at least 16 people reportedly were targeting a U.S. delegation led by the assistant commerce secretary. 

According to Fox News, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Marcus Jadotte is visiting the country to lead a group of Americans in Grand-Bassam that included college recruiters from the University of Florida. 

Also included in that group were U.S. embassy officials from the capital city of Abidjan, Fox News reported. The U.S. Embassy in Abidjan said it is monitoring the situation in Grand-Bassam and it has no evidence that U.S. citizens were targeted nor confirmed reports of any U.S citizens harmed. 

The U.S. delegation was expected to arrive at Etoile du Sud, but had not yet made it to the popular hotel when the attack happened. 

At least four men armed with AK47s and hand grenades gunned down 16 people in the historic town before they were killed in a shootout with government troops. 

Possible target: Assistant Secretary of Commerce Marcus Jadotte (above) is leading a U.S. delegation that includes college recruiters and U.S. embassy officials in the country. It has been reported that al Qaeda was targeting the U.S. delegation 

Unconfirmed reports have emerged that several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack

A soldier comforts an injured boy in Bassam, Ivory Coast, following a suspected terror attack which left at least 12 dead

Ivorian special forces race to the scene of the devastating attack in the town of Grand Bassam

An eyewitness revealed that they even shot dead a young child because he did not speak Arabic.   

One survivor, Marcel Guy, told of how the shooters approached two children and spoke to them in Arabic. He said one child knelt and prayed and the other one was shot on the spot. 

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters then opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel which was full of expats, another witness said.

Graphic images showed several dead bodies, some of whom are thought to be French tourists, scattered across the beach near the Etoile du Sud. Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were clearing the bodies.

Jacques Able, the owner of the hotel, said at least one person was killed in his building.

Footage from a different hotel's balcony showed people running from their lives as the shooters tried to gun down other unarmed holidaymakers. 

The country's government said six armed men have been 'neutralized' following attacks on three different hotels.  

Graphic images showed seven dead bodies scattered across the beach in the resort town of Grand Bassam

The country's Government said six armed men have been 'neutralised' following attacks on three different hotels (pictured, boys walk past the body of someone killed in an attack)

Locals help a badly injured victim on to the back of a backup truck following the sudden terror attack

Grand Bassam was once the colonial capital of Ivory Coast and remains a popular site for ex-pats relaxing from city life in Abidjan

Terror group Al Qaeda in the Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attack through one of their social media accounts, but this has not been independently verified.

Several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack, with witnesses describing how the gunmen arrived on the beach via a boat.

Josiane Sekongo, 25, who lives across from one of the town's many beachfront hotels, described the shocking moment the attack took place.

She ran outside after hearing gun fire and saw people sprinting away from the beach to hide in their homes, moments before the security forces arrived.

'I saw seven dead that I filmed. There were four attackers. I was swimming when it started and I ran away,' said Dramane Kima a local who filmed the bodies on Bassam's shore.

He also took photos of grenades and ammunition thought to have been left behind by the attackers. 

One of the victims from the shocking attack in Bassam, where gunmen opened fire on the beach

An AFP journalist saw around a dozen people, including an injured Western woman, being evacuated in a military truck

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said officials were 'urgently' trying to establish whether any British nationals were harmed at the resort, a popular site for expats.

Today's attack was the third time in recent months that a West African tourist hotspot has been besieged by gunmen. 

Dozens were killed during a siege of a Malian hotel in November, followed by an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. 

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both those countries, could be a potential target by jihadists as well.

'I have always said that Abidjan [Ivory Coast] and Dakar [Senegal] are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa,' said terrorism expert Lemine Ould Salem.

He said the attackers could be from the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram terror group that has killed thousands across Africa over several years. 

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel (pictured) which was full of expats

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.