French ambassador gives detail on Burkina hotel attack

Born in 1982 in Paris, Alaoui was in Burkina Faso on assignment for Amnesty International, the international aid group, the New York Times reported. Burkina Faso’s security minister, Simon Compaore, said on Tuesday that several people had been detained and questioned but he declined to give further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who was elected in November, said the Burkinabé people were in shock from the attack.

As Burkina Faso marks three days of official mourning, it is still reeling from its first attack by the jihadist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – and other West African countries are wondering whether they will be next.

The latest death toll from the Ouagadougou terrorist attack, particularly at Splendid Hotel and the Cappuccino Café Restaurant, has risen with the death of one of the injured, medical sources told APA on Tuesday morning.

In the statement, AQIM identified the three attackers as Al Battar Al Ansari, Abu Muhammad Al Buqali Al Ansari and Ahmed Al Fulani Al Ansari, according to Reuters.

Three attackers have been killed in the assault and three others are still on the run, he said without elaborating.

An armored vehicle from the Burkina Faso army secures a street outside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 15 January 2016.

In a separate statement, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denounced the odious criminal acts, renewing Morocco’s solidarity with the people and the Government of Burkina Faso and urging the worldwide community to show more commitment in the fight against terrorism.

At least four Al Qaeda-linked terrorists stormed the cafe and the hotel in the capital of the West African nation Saturday, shouting “Allahu Akbar” – which is Arabic for “God is great” – as they opened fire on the two locations. The attackers then ambushed the Splendid Hotel next door.

The six were traveling together as part of a humanitarian mission, and four them were from the same family.

Around 1 a.m., about 50 security forces including the French, Burkinabe and an American tried to enter the hotel but were fired upon and one French special forces member took a bullet in the leg. Security forces responding at the scene of events initially believed they were facing a team of 12 gunmen. “One attacker even came out of the restaurant to shoot at the vehicle”. “It is the Burkinabes, aided by a French detachment, that carried out the job”, he explained.