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Ouagadougou, At least 23 people from 18 countries were killed in an attack by jihadist gunmen on a top hotel and a restaurant in the capital of Burkina Faso, before security forces ended the siege today and killed four assailants.
A total of 126 people, including two Indians, were freed, from the four-star Splendid hotel, popular with Westerners and UN personnel, after security forces retook the 147-room facility and the Cappuccino restaurant nearby in the early hours this morning, Interior Minister Simon Compaore said.
The jihadists’ assault had been completely crushed by midday today, a security source said. Four jihadists, including two women, were killed in the counter-assault.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was “revenge against France and the disbelieving West”, according to a statement carried by US-based monitoring group SITE.
The attackers were members of the Al-Murabitoun group based in Mali and run by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, SITE said.
The security source said at least 23 people from 18 countries were killed in the jihadists’ assaults, adding that the toll could yet rise.
Aside from the four jihadists killed, a fifth attacker could be seen rushing into a nearby bar, according to witnesses who managed to escape. Compaore told AFP earlier that firefighters had seen 10 bodies on the terrace of the restaurant.
A total of “126 people, including at least 33 wounded, have been freed. Three jihadists — an Arab and two black Africans — have been killed,” Compaore said.
