27 killed in Burkina Faso's al-Qaeda hotel siege

comments     Reuters     Published     Updated

France's ambassador to Burkina Faso said 27 people had been killed in a hotel attack by militant Islamists in the capital Ouagadougou, slightly higher than a death toll of 23 given earlier by the West African nation's president.

Ambassador Gilles Thibault also tweeted that 150 people from 18 countries had been rescued from the site of the attack and had received medical treatment.

Earlier, security forces ended the siege by al-Qaeda fighters at the hotel, killing three Islamist gunmen and freeing 126 hostages, the West African nation’s security minister said.

The attack onSplendid Hotel began late yesterday. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the raid.

Simon Compaore said operations were still under way at a second hotel nearby, the Hotel Yibi, and security forces were trying to determine if some of the fighters were hiding there.

“The operations at the Splendid Hotel and the (nearby) Restaurant Cappuccino have ended. 126 hostages were freed, among them 33 were wounded,” the minister told Reuters . “Three jihadists were killed. They are an Arab and two black Africans.”

A Reuters witness said that clashes ended after a period of sustained gunfire and explosions that appeared to focus on the Restaurant Cappuccino early today.

Burkina Faso’s new government, which was appointed on Wednesday following the election of President Roch Marc Kabore in November, was due to hold an emergency cabinet meeting at 9am (0900 GMT).

The Splendid Hotel is popular with Westerners and French soldiers based in Burkina Faso.

A doctor who treated some of those wounded in the attack said they had told him that the attackers appeared to target Westerners.

- Reuters



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