Al-Qaida attack on Burkina Faso hotel leaves at least 20 dead, 33 rescued

Security forces have stormed a hotel in Burkina
Faso’s capital where Islamic militant fighters
have been holding hostages.
Up to 20 people are reported to have been killed
and 15 wounded in explosions and gunfire around
the hotel in Ouagadougou, which witnesses
reported was partly on fire.
Around 10 vehicles were on fire in the streets
near the 146-room Splendid Hotel.
The Burkina Faso government said on Twitter that
33 people had been freed after commandos
stormed the hotel, including minister Clement
Sawadogo.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed
responsibility for the attack. Citing conversations
with the attackers, the group claimed that 30

“crusaders” had been killed in “revenge for the
Prophet”, according to the US monitoring group
SITE.
The militants took control of the five-storey
Splendid hotel in Ouagadougou’s business district,
burning cars outside and firing in the air to drive
back crowds before security forces arrived,
prompting an intense exchange of gunfire.
One witness told Associated Press that he saw
four men attack the hotel and neighbouring
Cappuccino Cafe at about 7.30pm local time.
Another witness said that when security forces
arrived, they turned around rather than confront
the attackers.
Both the hotel and the cafe are popular with
United Nations staff and foreigners. It is located
in a busy central area of the capital, not far from
the airport.

Robert Sangare, director of Ouagadougou’s
university hospital centre, said: “We have received
around 15 wounded people. There are people with
bullet wounds and people who are injured
because of falls.” He said that the injured patients
had told him they had seen around 20 bodies in
the hotel.