Gunmen from the North African branch of Al-Qaeda killed 16 people, including one Lebanese and four Europeans

Gunmen from the North African branch of Al-Qaeda killed 16 people, including one Lebanese and four Europeans, at a beach resort town in Ivory Coast Sunday.

According to a statement by the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, a 54-year-old Lebanese man, Tawfik al-Hayek, was killed during the attack and five other Lebanese were wounded.

Six shooters targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam, a retreat popular with westerners about 40 kilometers east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian Special Forces.

“Six attackers came onto the beach in Bassam this afternoon,” said Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara during a visit to the site. “We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed.”

Al-Qaeda in the ‘Islamic Maghreb’, which has carried out other recent attacks in the region, claimed responsibility for Sunday’s shootings, according to the US-based SITE intelligence monitoring group, citing an AQIM statement.