White House National Security Council Spokesperson Ned Price said Riddering “had devoted his life to working with the Burkinabe people” in a statement strongly condemning the recent terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso and mourning those killed “in these senseless acts of violence”.
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This time the target was Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, a largely peaceful West African country that every two years hosts the continent’s biggest film festival.
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.
Survivors said the militants targeted white victims at the hotel and at the restaurant, both of which were popular among westerners.
A Franco-Moroccan photographer, Leila Alaoui – who had appeared to be in a stable condition – has now died of injuries sustained in the attack.
The list of those killed include eight 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. That day, shots were heard on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, near Splendid Hotel and the Cappuccino Restaurant, frequented by expatriates.
A picture taken on January 18, 2016 shows the damage outside the Cappuccino cafe in Ouagadougou, following a jihadist attack by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) late on January 15.
“Finally the other two attackers came out to fire upon us and it was around 7am that we killed the last two on the terrace of the Taxi Brousse”, he added. AQIM said in the statement that it called the attack a “drop in the sea of global jihad”. The attackers then ambushed the Splendid Hotel next door.
Burkina Faso has just ended a period of transition following the ouster of former president Blaise Compaore, which culminated with the election on November 29, and led to the designation of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré as new president.
The US State department has said an American also died.
The French parliament has observed a minute’s silence in their memory.
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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 jihadi groups are casting their net wider in West Africa. The group is based in the Sahara Desert between Mali, Niger and Algeria.
