According to the priest, the aim of the terrorists is not so much to destabilize the country as to “target foreigners to block the cooperation between African countries, such as Burkina Faso and Mali, and Europe and worldwide institutions”.
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Authorities in Burkina Faso have said the bodies of three assailants had been identified, but several witnesses said they saw more than three attackers and a manhunt was under way for accomplices.
Alaoui had been in Burkina Faso for less than a week, on assignment for Amnesty International, working on a series of photographs about women’s rights. “It happens in Paris and in Istanbul; it can happen anywhere”.
Fighters from a militant group affiliated to Al Qaeda attacked the Capuccino restaurant and the Splendid Hotel on Friday night. It claimed the attack was intended “to punish the Cross-worshipers for their crimes against our people in Central Africa, Mali, and other lands of the Muslims, and to avenge our Prophet, God’s peace and blessings be upon him”.
In their earlier statement, AQIM said the gunmen were from the Al-Murabitoun group of Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
It also follows a string of attacks by rival group the Islamic State (IS) in Jakarta, Istanbul, the Egyptian resort town of Hurgheda, and San Bernardino, California. At least three of the attackers died in the attack and dozens were wounded.
He moved to West Africa about five years ago and adopted two children there. But AQIM was also likely sending a message to IS.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said the jihadist group al-Murabitoun was behind the attacks on two hotels and the café, which were frequented by United Nations staff and aid workers.
Burkina Faso army spokesman Guy Herve Ye said the army is searching for other suspects and perhaps that is what the prime minister is referring to.
The elite presidential guard unit, which had a well-equipped and trained anti-terror squad, was disbanded after a coup attempt it staged in September.
Officials acknowledged though that it was more than four hours after the attack – in which 30 people died – began before security forces tried to enter the hotel.
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Neighbouring Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi arrived in the capital on Monday to offer his condolences to President Roch Marc Kabore, and said the West African regional bloc ECOWAS would hold an emergency summit to discuss the issue. “The question is: ‘Whose turn is it next?”
