“Both are safely out”, the External Affairs Ministry Spokesman said. Burned cars and motorbikes and overturned chairs and shards of glass lay scattered near the hotel.
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A branch of the Al Qaeda group, Al-Mourabitoun, said it conducted the attack, which had similarities to one in neighboring Mali in November.
French President Francois Hollande said he stands with the nation against the “odious and cowardly attack”.
The doctor and his wife had been taken near the town of Djibo close to the country’s border with Mali.
Burkina Faso’s new government, which was appointed on Wednesday following the election of President Roch Marc Kabore in November, was due to hold an emergency cabinet meeting at 9 a.m. (0900 GMT). “We must continue, continue to live, to act, to raise our hope, notably for future generations”.
“We advise British nationals in Burkina Faso to avoid the area where the attack took place, follow the instructions of local security authorities and monitor Foreign Office (FCO) travel advice”.
Of those freed, 33 have been hospitalized, Burkinabe Foreign Minister Alpha Barry told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
In a statement to Norway’s news agency NTB, Borge Brende said Saturday the “vulnerable” West African country has “just gotten its first democratically elected government”.
“There have been warning signs and if there is an element of surprise it is that this did not come earlier”, said Cynthia Ohayon, West Africa analyst at International Crisis Group. “From our organization’s standpoint, we want all parties in the dispute to end the conflict and to ensure that all children are safe”.
Special police forces are seen during search operations following an attack by Al-Qaeda linked gunmen on January 16, 2016 in Ouagadougou.
At least four attackers died in the assaults.
France, which maintains a military garrison in Burkina Faso, scrambled to respond to the siege, sending 30 of its soldiers to assist at least 40 from Burkina Faso’s military who massed outside the hotel.
NBC is also reporting that Clement Sawadogo, Burkina Faso’s minister of public service, labor and social security, were among those freed. The minister said three Jihadists were killed in the operation: one Arab and two black Africans.
Overnight on Friday, gunmen linked to Al Qaeda seized a luxury hotel, popular with Westerners, in the capital of Burkina Faso. “What’s making our job more hard is that they’ve rigged the access to the upper floors”, a senior Burkinabe gendarme officer, who asked not to be named, said.
150 people from 18 countries had been rescued from the site of the attack and had received medical treatment, Ambassador Gilles Thibault tweeted.
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Four Al-Qaeda militants have been killed after Burkina Faso and French forces stormed a luxury hotel on Saturday, freeing more than 126 hostages.
