4 members of Ukrainian family among dead in Burkina Faso

The national mourning began Sunday, a day after Burkinabe and French forces ended a more than 12-hour siege at the upscale Splendid Hotel in downtown Ouagadougou.

It was unclear whether the death toll included the three attackers that Kabore said were killed.

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.

Authorities in Burkina Faso have already said that the bodies of three assailants had been identified.

Burkina Faso, a landlocked country and former French colony, is the largest cotton producer in Africa and is also rich in gold.

“People are afraid. Anyone who’s not afraid isn’t normal – this is guys with guns”, said Souleymane Ouedraogo, who lives near the scene of the violence.

“The United Kingdom stands with President (Roch Marc) Kabore and the people of Burkina Faso in the fight against terrorism”.

A nine-year-old Ukrainian-Italian boy, a Canadian family and a USA missionary are among the 28 people killed when terrorists attacked a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso.

They were among at least 28 people killed when al-Qaida linked terrorists stormed a hotel and cafe in the African country’s capital Ouagadougou late Friday.

A number of videos show the horror as it unfolded in Burkina Faso with the night sky lighting up as explosions were detonated around the hotel.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement Saturday that six of the dead were Canadians.

His mother, of Ukrainian origin, is also believed to be among the victims. He also said that among those who escaped unharmed was Labour Minister Clement Sawadogo. “It was awful, people were sleeping and there was blood everywhere”.

“We could hear them talking and they were walking around and kept shooting at people who seemed alive”, Sawadogo told CNN affiliate BFMTV. The Islamic State were said to have waged attacks in the Begayliya and Ayash neigborhoods, killing pro-government fighters and their families.

“They’ll attack western interested when it suits them”, said retired colonel George Petrolekas, of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute.

The group’s leader is veteran al Qaeda figure Mokhtar Belmokhtar, according to the Mauritania-based Al Akhbar news agency.

The couple have operated a 120-bed clinic in the town of Dijbo, where Ken is the only surgeon, for more than 40 years.

Malian militant group Ansar Dine told AFP the couple were being held by jihadis from the al-Qaida-linked Emirate of the Sahara.

Dicko Seydou, is a friend of the Elliots’ and is behind a social media campaign calling for their release.

Some guests returned to the Splendid Hotel to pick up their luggage and other belongings left behind when guests fled for their lives when the gunmen began firing to kill as many people as possible.