Their prime ministers met on Sunday, two days after al Qaeda militants seized the Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, opened fire on a restaurant and attacked another hotel nearby, killing at least 28 people from at least seven countries, and wounding 50 other people. 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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President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said the people of Burkina Faso must unite in the fight against “terrorism”.
One of the victims killed in a terrorist attack in the West African nation of Burkina Faso has ties to the Chicago area.
Missionaries and humanitarians from the USA and Canada lost their lives in terrorist attacks in Africa and Indonesia last week.
“Distressed that Leila Alouia, young and talented Franco-Moroccan photographer, succumbed to her injuries tonight in Ouagadougou”, Pellerin wrote. He had accompanied staff and consultants on missions in Burkina Faso since 2008. There are still about thirty injured people being hospitalised, and about 180 people were evacuated from the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino.
Previously the spying operation had provided intelligence to various countries, including France, during attacks and kidnappings across the region.
The team returned to Burkina Faso on Saturday where they had since been waiting to travel back to the United States.
Security forces freed 150 of those being held, but could not save the others.
Camille Carrier was also critical of the way the family found out that all four members had died.
She was in Burkina Faso for a photography assignment on women’s rights, the organization said. In the end, none of the 30 people who were killed were at the hotel.
“Three were killed and three are still being sought”.
In the statement, AQIM identified the three attackers as Al Battar Al Ansari, Abu Muhammad Al Buqali Al Ansari and Ahmed Al Fulani Al Ansari, according to Reuters.
Minister of Security Simon Compaore would not give details, citing an ongoing investigation.
In both Mali and Burkina Faso cases, the militant group Al Qaeda and the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility.
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In another sign that a regional Islamist insurgency is intensifying, an elderly Australian doctor and his wife were abducted over the weekend by unknown assailants in northern Burkina Faso near the Malian border.
