It’s not yet clear whether the kidnapping is linked to the weekend’s deadly attack by another Al Qaeda-linked group in the capital in which at least 28 people, mostly foreigners, were killed when militants stormed a luxury hotel.
Advertisement
Misha, as he was known, was the only Italian among the 29 people killed in Friday’s al-Qaeda attack on the Cappuccino restaurant and bar and the Hotel Splendid in Ouagadougou.
Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party and MP (Saanich-Gulf Islands), extends heartfelt sympathies to the families of those killed during an attack in Burkina Faso.
Others killed include seven citizens of Burkina Faso, two Ukrainians, two Swiss, two French and one each from the USA, the Netherlands, Portugal and Libya, and one French-Ukrainian, according to Burkina Faso officials who released a partial list. Four members of the security forces, including one French soldier were also wounded.
Vincent Benoit, a spokesman for Endeavor Mining Corp., said the company’s foreign workers are very familiar with the risks, with many of them coming from nearby South Africa.
Two were black and another, smiling faintly, was light-skinned, suggesting he might be from an Arab or Tuareg group.
“I think they fell in love with Burkina Faso”, she said.
Canada banned travel to Mali after terrorists took about 170 people hostage, killing 20, at an upscale hotel in Bamako last November. “We were trained for this”, said a gendarme military police source. He told Ann that they were surrounded by gunfire, but the line went dead before he could say anything else.
Previously the spying operation had provided intelligence to various countries, including France, during attacks and kidnappings across the region.
“We have a lot of programming in Burkina Faso, Mali (and) neighbouring countries”, she said. Ken and Jocelyn have dedicated their lives to serving the people of Burkina Faso and have saved many lives and brought hope to many people.
Thieba and his Malian counterpart Modibo Keita visited the outside of the Splendid Hotel on Sunday, where bullet holes and a charred exterior offered reminders of Friday evening’s attack.
Advertisement
Until recently Burkina Faso had largely escaped the tide of Islamist violence spreading in the restive Sahel region and the hotel assault will heighten fears that jihadist groups are casting their net wider in search of targets in west Africa.
