Death toll in militant attack rises to 18

The casualty toll in an attack by Islamist militants on a beach resort in Ivory Coast rose to 15 civilians and three members of the country's special forces killed and 33 people wounded, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said.

Three Islamist militants who stormed the resort in the town of Grand Bassam east of the commercial capital Abidjan were also killed, he said at the end of a cabinet meeting.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said it was responsible for storming the beach hotels in Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Ivorians and westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan.