At least six people have been reported killed, including five foreigners, in an attack on a tourist complex outside the Malian capital Bamako on Monday morning (AEST).

According to local police, among the dead was one Malian soldier and five foreigners, one of whom was a French-Gabonese citizen.

It is not known yet whether the other dead were civilians or foreign troops, although the tourist complex is popular among members of the United Nations Minusma multinational force stationed in Mali.

The Malian Security Ministry said that attackers were “armed individuals, certainly terrorists”.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, it appears to be quite similar to other attacks carried out by jihadist groups in Mali and North Africa, mainly targeting areas frequented by Westerners.

According to several witnesses, a group of at least four armed men showed up on at the main gate of the tourist complex shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is great, in Arabic) and opened fire on the people they encountered.

In the confused circumstances surrounding the attack, the full number of victims is not known and neither is the precise number of attackers.

At least 20 people in the vicinity were able to get away from the scene unharmed, police said.

Malian special forces, assisted by the Minusma blue helmets, have cordoned off the zone where the tourist complex is located, while the attackers seem to have taken refuge on a hill within the area.

Several columns of smoke can be seen rising from the tourist complex and some sources said that the attackers have taken hostages, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.