22 killed, many hostages reportedly taken in Mali hotel attack

22 are reported dead after gunmen stormed the luxury Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital earlier today.

The attackers reportedly took up to 170 hostages before Malian special forces stormed the building to free the captives. The government of France, Mali's former colonial power, has dispatched 50 commandos to the Saharan nation.

The remaining hostages were freed in the shootout, reports USA Today, and the gunmen killed.

Mali is in the grip of unrest following a 2012 military coup and Islamist insurgency in the north of the country.

Reuters reports that al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Mourabitoun has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes soon after 129 died in a series of bombings and shootings across Paris.

UPDATED Nov. 22 with death toll.