Burkina Faso: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) terrorists attack on a luxury hotel and a nearby cafe leaves 27 dead
A total of 27 people have died in an Al-Qaeda attack on a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso.
Armed terrorists seized the Splendid Hotel and a nearby cafe in the capital Ouagadougou after letting off bombs last night, with people from around 18 different countries caught up in the assault.
Around 33 people were wounded. Around 150 people were evacuated, the French ambassador tweeted.
This morning special forces took back the building after heavy gunfire, freeing 126 hostages and leaving four attackers dead including an Arab and two black Africans, Burkina Faso’s minister of security said. Two of the attackers were women.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident an Austrian doctor and his wife were reported kidnapped this morning near the country’s border with Mali.
Officials declared the siege of the Splendid officially over but continued to search nearby hotels to see if other extremists were hiding there.