Australian couple abducted in Burkina Faso

Three attackers died in the raid, and a fourth was killed while fleeing to another hotel.

At least 29 people, including 11 foreigners, have been killed in an Al-Qaeda attack on a luxury hotel and a nearby restaurant in Burkina Faso.

Last month, Burkina Faso swore in Roch Marc Christian Kabore as president, completing the troubled W … He is survived by his four children, two of whom were adopted from Burkina Faso.

An audiotape later released by the al-Qaida group claiming responsibility was titled “A Message Signed with Blood and Body Parts”.

The Ouagadougou assault, claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), marked an expansion of operations for Islamist militants who are stepping up their activities, echoing the growth of Islamic State in the Middle East.

Earlier, the Burkina Faso government had mistakenly said the couple were Austrian.

About 40 Burkina Faso soldiers, with the help of 30 French troops and an unknown number of American troops, launched an assault to rescue hostages early Saturday.

The attackers were members of the Al-Murabitoun group based in Mali and run by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, SITE said.

The hours-long attack targeted the four-star Splendid Hotel and the Cappuccino restaurant across the road.

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

In a separate incident two Australian humanitarian workers were kidnapped by extremists in northern Burkina Faso.

“We are saddened by the loss of lives, specifically Canadians, and also all the lives that were impacted by the situation”, she said.

Surgeon Ken Elliott and his wife Jocelyn disappeared on Friday night, the family in Western Australia state said in a statement. Before they moved to Burkina Faso, he owned a boat company.

The couple, in their 80s and originally from Perth, have lived in Djibo, near Baraboule, since 1972, and work in a volunteer medical clinic which they built, reports said.

Jihadists also hold a third foreigner: a Romanian national who was kidnapped in an attack last April that was the first of its kind at the time.

“As soon as you lifted your head you would get shot straight away so you had to pretend to be dead and they even came to touch our feet to check if we were alive…”

Impoverished Burkina Faso has been seized by growing political turmoil since the longstanding-but-loathed president Blaise Compaoré was ousted in a popular uprising in late 2014.