Four family members among Canadians killed in Burkina Faso terrorist attack

A soldier walks past a poster of former president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, outside a bar that was attacked in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016.

A police armored vehicle is parked outside a Starbucks cafe after an explosion in Jakarta, Indonesia Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016.

Classes were canceled Monday at two Quebec City area schools where some of the six Canadians killed in the attack in Burkina Faso over the weekend used to work.

Burkina Faso is largely a Muslim country and had for years been largely spared from the violence carried out by Islamic extremist groups who were kidnapping foreigners for ransom in neighbouring Mali and Niger.

In such a struggle, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign promise to pull our CF-18s out of the anti-ISIS fight – for which he’s never provided a good rationale – makes no sense. “This is an attack against all of us”, said Couillard.

Burkina Faso’s President Roch Kabore has announced the rescue of around 150 hostages.

While recruitment remains unaffected, Mirza said the recent spate of terror attacks has led to government-imposed travel bans that have hindered the organization’s work.

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.

Maude Carrier was with her parents and brother in Burkina Faso when she posed for a photo with a local child. The longtime leader’s ouster likely ended a convenient relationship between Burkina Faso and militants that had, until then, protected the country, she said.

Witnesses said security forces waited hours before taking action against the attackers, with the first on scene poorly equipped. The victims include seven Burkinabes, four Canadians, three Ukrainians, two Swiss nationals, and one American.

“Our men were raring to go”. “We had equipment issues”. Last September members of a presidential guard launched a coup that lasted only about a week.

Additionally, the authorities jailed the unit’s commander, General Gilbert Diendere, who led the intelligence services.

Previously the spying operation had plenty of resources and had provided intelligence to various countries, including France, during attacks and kidnappings across the region.