BAMAKO, Mali — The first attack by Islamic extremists in a central Mali town, in which nine people were killed, shows that jihadist aggressions are spreading in the country and hitting more directly at the government military and the U.N. peacekeeping force, an expert said Saturday.

Additional U.N. personnel may still be missing, said a U.N. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of lack of authorization to speak to the press.

A village chief prays in 2014 after meeting with French soldiers north of Timbuktu, an area where Islamic extremists are now threatening the civilian population. Reuters

The militants first targeted the army camp in Sevare on Friday but when they faced resistance they moved to the nearby Hotel Debo before assaulting the Hotel Byblos, popular with U.N. staff, to take hostages, said a Mali government report, according to the U.N. official.

Sevare, a garrison town about 375 miles northeast of the capital, Bamako, is at the heart of Mali’s tourism industry and up until now had not been targeted in the attacks more common in the towns of Gao and Timbuktu.

“It’s a troubling sign that the armed Islamist groups are intent on stepping up the pressure both on the Malian government and on the U.N. and French presence,” said Bruce Whitehouse, Mali expert and associate professor at Lehigh University. “They want to show they are not just contained within the north and that they’re not afraid to confront their primary enemies where they’re strongest.”

Whitehouse said the attack was likely intended “to signal all Malians everywhere that neither their government nor the U.N. can keep them safe,” but noted the rapid response by Mali’s forces.

The attackers may be elements of Amadou Koufa, a leader who has been linked to attacks on Mali’s army including a January attack that killed 10 soldiers in Nampala, said Col. Souleymane Maiga, spokesman for the military.

The four rescued U.N. employees are two South Africans, a Russian and a Ukrainian, said U.N. mission in Mali spokeswoman Radhia Achouri.

“Our contractors survived because at no time was their presence discovered by the terrorists in the hotel,” she said adding there was not much resistance Saturday morning during the rescue by special forces.

The 12 dead include three civilians, five Malian soldiers, a U.N. contractor and three attackers, according to the U.N.

A 38-year-old South African who died worked for an aviation company that was assisting the U.N. contingent in Mali.

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