Burkina Faso and Mali to coordinate forces after deadly attacks

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said six people carried out the deadly attacks on the cafe and hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital, and three are still on the loose.

“Finally the other two attackers came out to fire upon us and it was around 7 a.m. that we killed the last two on the terrace of the Taxi Brousse”, he added.

He said the toll is at about 30 death and 30 wounded. In the wake of a weekend attack that killed up to 32 people, security was beefed up across Burkina Faso’s capital Monday as businesses and banks reopened.

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Carol Boyle said Michael Riddering, 45, died in the Cappuccino Cafe, where he was to meet a group Friday that was going to volunteer at the orphanage and women’s crisis center he ran with his wife, Amy Boyle-Riddering.

ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images Forensics experts inspect a vehicle outside Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou on Monday following the jihadist attack.

In a message to the nation, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said the people of Burkina Faso must unite in the fight against terrorism. The attackers then ambushed the Splendid Hotel next door.

“During the Ebola crisis, when it was hard to find people to do the digging, Mike would go out and join them so they could continue doing the work”, commented John Anderson, a Sheltering Wings board member.

Burkina Foreign Affairs Minister Alpha Barry and Minister of Security Compaore met with diplomats Tuesday, reassuring them that Burkina Faso will remain a safe place despite the attack.

The list of those killed include eight citizens of Burkina Faso, two Ukrainians, two Swiss, two French and one each from the U.S., the Netherlands, Portugal and Libya, and one French-Ukrainian, according to Burkina Faso officials who released a partial list.

Campaore said the governmen had reinforced security across the country following the attack.

It’s not the first time Canadians have been targeted by AQIM, which has claimed responsibility for the attack. Thieba and his Malian counterpart Modibo Keita visited the outside of the Splendid Hotel on Sunday, where bullet holes and a charred exterior offered reminders of Friday evening’s attack. Security forces freed over 150 hostages and killed four attackers.