Al Qaeda’s North African branch has claimed responsibility for a terror attack on an Ivory Coast beach resort on Sunday in which 16 people, including four Europeans, were killed.

Six gunmen targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Western expatriates about 25 miles east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces, the government said.

A top French expert said that the attack was “clearly against France”, which has former colonial ties with the country and a continent of 600 soldiers nearby.

“Six attackers came onto the beach in Bassam this afternoon,” Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said during a visit to the site. “We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed.”

Hamed Bakayoko, Ivory Coast’s interior minister, said foreign citizens from France, Germany, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon were among the victims.