3 attackers on the run a week after Burkina Faso hotel siege

He said though the Armed Forces were prepared to confront any terrorist group that meant to attack the country, they would need the co-operation of the citizenry. But Burkina Faso authorities on Wednesday insisted that only three jihadis carried out the attacks and were killed, although more accomplices are being sought.

Political uncertainty has slowed an economy already hurt by a fall in global gold prices, but one senior security official said the attack would put security at the top of the public agenda.

The movement is said to have links with Al Qaeda, who have since claimed responsibility of the bloody assault on the hotel and cafe.

France has warned Senegal and Ivory Coast of attacks being planned on their major cities, Bloomberg news reports. She was in Burkina Faso on an assignment by Amnesty International to create a series of photos on women’s rights.

“Burkina was hit because it’s an example of democracy in this region and in Africa and because it’s traditionally been a place where Christians and Muslims live together”.

“Everything depends on the effort by the government after this attack to reassure our global partners and the friends of the country to continue to come here”, said Idrissa Nassa, chief executive of Coris Bank, a leading lender in Burkina Faso.

Interior Minister Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo told MPs on Thursday that Senegalese security forces would be stepping up patrols to guard against possible attacks. The prime ministers of the two countries met on Sunday, though exact details of their of their collaboration is not clear.

Senegal has so far avoided a major attack by Islamist militants.

Some 15 members of the MNLA were detained for questioning in different parts of Burkina Faso, “some then freed and others not”.

“The spill-over was likely the result of the ongoing French Operation Barkhane, which inflicted a heavy blow on Jihadists’ ability to operate in Mali’s northern regions and forced them to look for additional sources of funding instead of those lost, including along Mali’s porous southern borders”.

“What trigged the attack in Burkina we dont know, if they took Burkina by surprise they can equally take Ghana by surprise and it is left to Ghana’s security to protect its citizens”, some residents stated.