Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. (Agence France-Presse)
A Belgian working for the European Union was among the five people killed in a "cowardly attack" on a bar in the Mali capital Bamako, officials said today.
"Unfortunately, a Belgian is among the victims," Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said, denouncing the killings.
"My thoughts are with the victims and their families," Reynders said on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers meeting in the Latvian capital Riga.
A spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said among the victims was a Belgian who worked with the EU in Mali where the 28-nation bloc runs a mission to assist police and national guard forces.
At least one gunman entered the nightclub in an area of the Mali capital Bamako which is popular with expatriates and opened fire in the early hours of Saturday, local police said.
"This is a terrorist attack, although we're waiting for clarification.
Provisionally, there are four dead, one French national, a Belgian and two Malians," a policeman told AFP, adding that the dead included a police officer who had been passing the restaurant.
A third European, whose nationality was not immediately clear, died on arrival at the Gabriel Toure hospital in Bamako, a source there said, adding that eight people were wounded.