Over Dozen Dead in Siege by Terrorists at Burkina Faso Hotel

Local Editor

At least 20 people died and others were taken hostage when militiamen stormed a hotel in the capital city of Burkina Faso on Friday, an attack for which "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" [AQIM] claimed responsibility.

In the context, witnesses reported that security forces began an assault to reclaim the Splendid Hotel in the early hours of Saturday and entered its lobby, part of which was on fire. The hotel is frequented by Westerners, which may have made it a target for the militants.

About 30 hostages including the Labor Minister were freed from the hotel. However, no one said publicly how many hostages might still be in the hotel.

It was the first time militants have carried out an assault in the capital of Burkina Faso and comes as a setback to efforts by African governments, France and the United States to prevent attacks that destabilized the region.

Relatively, the attack was preceded by a raid on a luxury hotel in Mali last November in which two attackers killed 20 people, including citizens of Russia, China and the United States.

For his part, the director of Ouagadougou's university hospital center, Robert Sangare, said that among an initial batch of 15 people brought to hospital some had bullet wounds while others had injuries from falls.

Patients saw around 20 bodies, and one European woman being treated at the hospital said the attackers appeared to target Westerners.

The hotel is sometimes used by French troops with Operation Barkhane, a force based in Chad and set up to combat extremist militants across West Africa's vast, arid Sahel region.

France normally has up to 200 Special Forces troops in the country. However, the government has not ruled out calling for help from them.

The assault began around 8:30 pm local time, in which the attackers torched cars and fired in the air to drive people back from the building. There was an intense gun battle followed by at least an hour of relative quiet, in part as security forces prepared their bid to recapture the hotel.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team