Hotel security camera video captured scenes of an al-Qaeda attack on a beach resort town in Ivory Coast on 13 March. Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch killed 18 people at Grand Bassam, the latest in a string of deadly attacks that have confirmed the Islamists' growing reach in West Africa.

The shooters targeted hotels on the beach, with one, Etoile du Sud, releasing security video showing people fleeing in panic, the sounds of weapon fire and a man with an assault rifle. Fifteen civilians and three members of special forces were killed in the attack, the country's interior minister said. The French president's office said four French nationals were killed.

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

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