Scores of people reportedly trapped in a hotel after gunfire, explosions in Burkina Faso's capital

Scores of people are reportedly trapped inside the Splendid Hotel in downtown Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, after gunfire and multiple explosions went off nearby.

The West-African hotel is popular with Westerners, witnesses said. Reports also surface that an assault from government security forces on the hotel is "imminent."

An Associated Press reporter near the scene said that several cars were also ablaze outside the four-story Splendid Hotel in downtown Ouagadougou and that sporadic gunfire could still be heard two hours after the attack began.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, though jihadists have attacked hotels before in neighboring Mali, including a devastating attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in November that left 20 people dead.

The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou tweeted: "We are closely following the situation downtown."

While Burkina Faso has largely been spared the violence wracked by Islamic extremist groups in Mali, a Romanian national was abducted last April.

Burkina Faso, a largely Muslim country, has been in turmoil since its longtime president was ousted in a popular uprising in late 2014. Last September members of a presidential guard launched a coup that lasted only about a week. The transitional government returned to power until Burkina Faso's November election ushered in new leaders.