It is unclear how many people are still inside the Splendid Hotel, but 63 have been freed, according to Rémis Dandjinou, Burkina Faso’s minister of communication. He said 33 of them were wounded.

According to hospital officials in Ouagadougou, more than 20 people have died in the attack.

Intense gunfire was continuing outside the hotel.

At least 10 bodies were found in a cafe that was attacked by Al Qaeda fighters as part of their assault on the Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital, a government minister told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Internal Affairs Minister Simon Compaore said the bodies were found inside the Cappuccino Cafe, a restaurant next to the luxury hotel. Witnesses said that burning cars could be seen in front of the cafe when it was attacked on Friday.

The identities and nationalities of the victims were not clear.

French and Burkinabe security forces were engaged in an operation to retake the hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning. It remained unclear how many people had been taken hostage or killed when the fighters attacked the 147-room hotel on Friday evening.

A French television network reported that at least 20 people had been killed in the attack on the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou.

The network, France 24, interviewed two survivors, both of whom declined to give their names. One, a woman whose eyes were wide with shock as she spoke, said the hostage-takers had shot a man in front of her.

“There was someone in front of me and they shot him and he fell onto me,” she said, her face covered in soot.

Another survivor told the network that his memories of the hotel’s interior were dominated by images of smoke and blood. He said he had only survived by escaping through a broken window.

“People were lying on the ground and there was blood everywhere,” he said. “They were shooting people at point-blank range. When they left they set fire to the place and the smoke started to suffocate me and the other survivors.”

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it had targeted the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou because it was known to be popular with foreigners, saying it had sent a message “written by the heroes of Islam with their blood and body parts.”

The statement was directed at a foreign audience, which it addressed as “the Cross-worshipers, the occupiers of our lands, the
looters of our wealth and the abusers of our security.”

It said that fighters from Al Mourabitoun, a jihadist group led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar and aligned with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, struck the hotel because it “is frequented by staff of the nations of global disbelief.”

The statement said the attack was intended “to punish the
Cross-worshipers for their crimes against our people in Central
Africa, Mali and other lands of the Muslims, and to avenge our
Prophet, God’s peace and blessings be upon him.”

Remis Dandjinou, Burkina Faso’s minister of communication, said on Twitter that 33 hostages were freed from the Splendid Hotel early Saturday morning and brought to local hospitals.

Liberation du ministre Clement Sawadogo et d une trentaire d otages. L operation se poursuit. #BurkinaFaso

— remis dandjinou (@remisdandjinou) January 16, 2016

Clément Sawadogo, another government minister, was among the hostages freed when Burkinabe and French soldiers stormed the hotel that was seized by Qaeda militants Friday night, Mr. Dandjinou said. He said the operation to retake the hotel was ongoing.

Sumudu Dhanapala witnessed much of the violence in Burkina Faso on Friday from his home down the street from the Splendid Hotel. He first heard gunfire as he was driving home in the evening, he said, and quickly sought shelter indoors.

Once there, he began snapping pictures and posting them on Twitter.

A truck was burning outside Cafe Cappuccino across the street from the hotel when he returned home, Mr. Dhanapala said. But soon the security forces arrived.

Onlookers gathered a block from the hotel as Burkinabe soldiers first responded to the attack, he said. Once they had their bearings, the security forces ordered them to leave.

A tense calm settled upon Avenue Kwame N’Krumah, a main street in Ouagadougou and the location of the besieged hotel, as Burkinabe and French troops planned an operation to retake the building.

Violence erupted again early Saturday, Mr. Dhanapala said. Gunfire and loud bangs could be heard outside the hotel, he said, and a previously undamaged car by the building appeared to have caught fire. The operation had begun.

Has an assault started? #BurkinaAttack #BurkinaFaso Hear sporadic shots of verying degree pic.twitter.com/RIqGWEmLV6

— Sumudu Dhanapala (@Maximuslk) January 16, 2016

Security forces in the capital of Burkina Faso entered the lobby of a hotel that was seized by fighters from Al Qaeda on Friday evening, according to witnesses.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack and said its fighters killed as many as 30 hostages inside the hotel, according to a statement released on an encrypted messaging app. It was unclear exactly how many militants carried out the attack and how many hostages were inside the hotel.

Early Saturday, the Burkinabe security forces amassed outside the hotel, and with the assistance of French soldiers, entered the Splendid Hotel on Avenue Kwame N’Krumah in Ouagadougou, the capital.

Olympia de Maismont, a French journalist for the radio station Radio France Internationale, told The New York Times that she heard intermittent gunfire after the soldiers entered the hotel and that “several hostages had been freed.”

She said she saw about 70 soldiers positioned on one side of the hotel, and about half of them were French troops.

Another witness, Sumudu Dhanapala, said that loud bangs and gunfire could be heard on the main road outside the hotel as the operation began.

In Washington, a Defense Department official said that France had requested “immediate” surveillance and reconnaissance help in Burkina Faso and that the American military is “working to provide that.”

There is one American military member embedded with French forces, the official said, who is “providing advice and assistance to French forces in the hotel.”

There are around 75 American military personnel in Burkina Faso, including 15 assigned to the United States Embassy, and 60 more who provide security training, advice and assistance to the French military there, the official said.

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French soldiers were on the ground outside the Splendid Hotel early Saturday, an eyewitness said, assisting Burkinabe security forces as they prepared for an assault on the jihadist hostage-takers inside.

Olympia de Maismont, a French journalist for the radio station Radio France Internationale, estimated that 30 French troops were working with 40 Burkinabe soldiers. The security forces began to buzz with activity shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, she said.

“I am about 50 meters from the hotel. I can see both French and Burkinabe soldiers, and they are preparing for the assault,” she said. “There is truly a concentration of troops. We are seeing more and more arrive, and we see that they are studying plans — which I assume are the plans of the hotel.”

Ms. de Maismont said that she had seen two bodies being carried out of the hotel, as well as a woman who appeared to be in a state of shock. “She had a hard time walking. The soldiers were holding her up by her arms, but at the same time she did not seem to be wounded, so I believe she was in shock,” she said.

Hours after the attack on the Splendid Hotel began, the leadership of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb released a statement that said it had spoken by telephone with the attackers, who claimed they had killed 30 hostages.

The statement was verified by the SITE Intelligence Group, which studies jihadist movements.

“In a phone conversation with our brothers the immersers in Splendide Hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, the brothers asserted the fall of many dead Crusaders,” the statement said, according to a transcript provided by SITE.

The statement added that the operation in Burkina Faso was “revenge against France and the disbelieving West.”

Hélène Ouedraogo was inside the Splendid Hotel visiting with a friend when three “turbaned” people with weapons stormed inside and opened fire, killing several people, she said.

Ms. Ouedraogo and her friend escaped the hotel by breaking a window, she said, and they saw several vehicles in flames as they ran for safety. She was wounded as they fled and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

A second witness, Harouna Kabore, said he was not far from the hotel when shots rang out. He ran for his life and escaped. “I was terrified by the scale and violence of the shots,” he said. “The shots were out of control, the bullets whistling by.”

The BBC — citing a hospital director in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso — reported that at least 20 people have been killed in a terrorist attack on a hotel frequented by foreign visitors.

Cars burned in front of the Splendid Hotel as gunfire rang out through the empty streets of Ouagadougou, according to video released by wire services on Friday night.

One man interviewed by The Associated Press said he thought the security forces had not responded to the hotel attack quickly enough.

“The guys came and started to shoot, and since 7:30 p.m. nobody has been coming,” he said in the video, surrounded by a group of men on the street. “The army, the police and the gendarmerie came, but they are just turning around.”

However, he said that he had no doubt that the government forces would prevail over the terrorists.

“We are waiting. Maybe they are preparing for something,” he added. “But we know that the gunmen won’t get out from the hotel alive. Our country is not for jihadists or terrorists. They are wrong.”

Salif Ouedraogo, 28, who lives in an apartment close to the Splendid Hotel, described the attack.

“I heard the first gunshots, and so I went to the balcony. I happen to live right above Le Veranda,” he said, referring to a restaurant on the same street as the hotel.

“I saw people who were shooting, and so I quickly got down and put myself on my stomach on the floor,” he said by telephone from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. “But because I was right above them, I could hear them. And I could see the traces of gunfire — it looked like fireworks.

“I was on my belly, and we could hear them talking. They were talking loudly, saying: ‘Get out! Get out!’ And then we heard a lot of gunfire.”

From outside La Veranda, he said, the assailants proceeded to the hotel and the adjacent cafe, where they set off an explosion.

Later, Mr. Ouedraogo, who works as an agent at the country’s international airport, used his cellphone to capture video images of a fire burning at the base of the hotel, recording the action from what appears to be a distance of several dozen yards.

“They set off an explosion and they opened fire on the people,” he said. “Then they began taking hostages.”

The foreign minister of Burkina Faso, Alpha Barry, said that he did not know how many people might have been killed Friday in the attack on the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, the capital.

“This is a terrorist attack,” he said in an interview with France 24. “The situation at the moment is not clear. What is sure is that people with their heads covered took hostages in the center of Ouagadougou.”

“There was shooting,” he added. “We have no accurate indication of deaths. Police are there with security forces.”

Mr. Barry told Agence France-Presse that security forces are prepared “for an assault to free the hostages.”

“At the moment, these are Burkinabe forces, but we are not ruling out possible support of foreign forces, including French special forces,” he added.

Images captured by witnesses to the attack on the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou are circulating on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, showing a fire burning at the entrance of the hotel and victims of the attack.

Photographs collected by the website Africanspotlight.com show injured victims of the attack receiving treatment from Burkinabe security forces.

Rescued people from #Burkinafaso's hotel attack. pic.twitter.com/yC7hKzI0BW

— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) January 15, 2016

At the Yalgado Ouédraogo hospital, where some of those injured in the attack were taken, doctors confirmed that there had been deaths.

Witnesses said that three bodies could be seen at the Cafe Cappuccino connected to the hotel.

Attackers killed “several people” in the Cafe Cappuccino adjacent to the Splendid Hotel, according to an employee of the restaurant who spoke by telephone to Agence France-Presse. The agency said the employee was unable to say exactly how many were killed.

The agency also reported, citing the police, that an officer was shot trying to reach the hotel. It did not say whether the officer was killed.

According to online booking sites, the Splendid Hotel has 147 guest rooms and a number of amenities, including a swimming pool, a restaurant and bar, free Wi-Fi and a business center. Many rooms have balconies facing the street.

The hotel is generally given three or three and one-half stars out of five. Average room rates are said to be in the $120 to $160 range.

The hotel is reported to be popular with visiting United Nations officials, international sports officials and others visiting the country on business because it is convenient to the city’s airport.

Reuters reports that the hotel is sometimes used by French troops based in Chad who conduct counterterrorism operations across across the Sahel region of Africa.

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Security forces have surrounded the Splendid Hotel, located on the main avenue of the capital, said the Burkinaba culture minister, Tahirou Barry, reached by telephone in Ouagadougou.

“There is a perimeter of at least 500 meters around it; no one can approach,” he said. “They are trying to help the hostages, and yes, the hostages are still inside.”

Mr. Barry said that he did not know how many guests were inside the hotel.

“Once in a while we can hear shooting,” he said. “For the moment, we have no more details on the identity of the shooters, except for the fact that one witness affirmed that one of the assailants proclaimed the name of God.”

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb organized the attack on the Splendid Hotel in coordination with a terrorist group led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement posted on an encrypted telephone app, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

“God is Great! Your mujahideen brothers in the Organization of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the al-Murabitoon Battalion, broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of our religion,” said the statement, according to SITE.