Five people were killed when at least one masked gunman sprayed bullets in a nightclub popular with foreigners in Mali’s capital early yesterday, officials said.

The dead in the attack at La Terrasse restaurant and bar in Bamako included a French person and a Belgian national.

Nine other people were injured, including two experts at the UN mission, said the UN stabilisation mission in Mali in a statement. The Swiss Defence Ministry said the pair were Swiss soldiers.

A survivor of the attack, Ibrahim Coulibaly, said: “I saw a masked person with a great weapon like a machine gun go up the stairs to the bar and at first I thought it was a joke, but a few seconds later, I heard a first shot. People started shouting and then came a burst of gunfire. It was then that I realised it was serious. I hid.

A criminal and terrorist act

“Then the hooded man came down the stairs, past the bar, he saw the Belgian citizen who was getting into his car and he shot him. And then the attacker got in a car and left. He did not talk to anyone, he said nothing,” said Mr Coulibaly.

Another witness, Hamadou Dolo, said he saw two gunmen run out of the nightclub and jump into a car driven by an accomplice.

Mali’s President and Prime Minister visited the scene and called it “a criminal and terrorist act”. A government statement said an investigation is under way and pledged to bring the perpetrators to book.

France and Belgium condemned the attack and their foreign ministers confirmed the deaths of their nationals.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders denounced it as a “cowardly act of terror” and France’s Laurent Fabius said “everything must be done to find those responsible for this crime”.

The Belgian victim was a security officer for the European Union, said EU President Donald Tusk.

“The European Union will not be intimidated by terrorism, at home or abroad,” said Mr Tusk. “We will remain steadfast in support of Mali and its people.”