BREAKING: Jihadi gunmen on motorbikes try to KIDNAP Western tourists in Mali

1	HEAVILY-ARMED jihadists have attempted to kidnap Western tourists during a gun attack on a hotel in Mali.
2	An army spokesman said Islamic extremists attacked a hotel in the centre of the African country near an army camp in Sevare.
3	Witnesses described seeing a "white man" lying dead in the street although the nationality of the victim is not yet known.
4	Jihadists are still engaged in a fire fight with the army at the Hotel Debo, about 9 miles from Mopti in Mail's central region.
5	A resident in the area said smoke was coming from the hotel, which was now surrounded by soldiers.
6	The number of victims remained unclear with witnesses saying one body was visible in front of the building while a second military source said two people had been killed.
7	"It started before 8am. I saw a body in front of the hotel. It was a white man but I don't know his nationality," said airport worker Moussa Diallo.
8	The hotel was believed to be lodging nationals from South Africa, France and Ukraine, Malian military spokesperson Souleymane Dembele said.
9	"The (Malian army) has encircled the zone and is attempting to enter the hotel," he added.
10	The hotel is often used by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the West African nation, according to an army spokesman.
11	An unnamed UN source said that the attackers remained in the hotel and that gunfire continued to be heard three hours after the initial assault.
12	"People in the area are hiding in their houses. The attackers are still inside the hotel," the resident of the town of Sevare, who asked not to be named, said.
13	"I see the smoke from the hotel. There are exchanges of gunfire."
14	Attacks by extremists have worsened in Mali in recent years.
15	Mali's north fell under the control of Islamic militants following a military coup in 2012.