African Jihadist group Al-Murabitoun has claimed responsibility for an attack in Mali’s capital Bamako, in which more than 100 hostages were held by gunmen at a luxury hotel.

At least 22 people were killed in the siege, which Al-Murabitoun claimed responsibility for in a post on Twitter.

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As many as 10 attackers were reportedly heard shouting “Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)” as they entered the hotel, spraying the area with gunfire.

The attackers released some hostages who showed they could recite verses from the Koran.

Al-Murabitoun is an African militant organisation formed in 2013, from the fusion of militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s Al-Qaeda breakaway group Signatories in Blood and MUJAO, one of the jihadist groups that seized northern Mali in early-2012.

The group, whose name means The Sentinels in Arabic, is comprised of mostly Tuaregs and Arabs — but also Algerians, Tunisians and other nationalities.

Based in the Sahara Desert, Al-Murabitoun has reportedly been led by Algerian former Al-Qaeda commander Belmokhtar and has been designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Wanted for terrorist activities in several countries, Belmokhtar allegedly organised a 2013 siege of an Algerian gas plant, in which 38 hostages were killed.

He was reportedly killed in a US airstrike in Libya in June, but US military could not confirm his death.

The group have claimed responsibility for an attack at a busy restaurant in Bamako in May, in which two Europeans and three locals were shot dead.

They were also linked to a suicide rocket attack on a Mali United Nations base in April, which left three people dead.

Al-Murabitoun has links to Al-Qaeda, but also alleged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) in May, before Belmokhtar issued a statement retracting the claim, saying it had not been approved.