The news comes after Burkina Faso and French forces took back a luxury hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, which had been attacked by suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants Friday night.
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At least 20 people have been killed and another 15 wounded in an ongoing Al-Qaeda attack on a hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso popular with United Nations staff and westerners.
In a message posted in Arabic on its “Muslim Africa” Telegram account, al-Qaeda said its militants had fought “enemies of the religion” and killed “many crusaders”.
Security forces freed some 150 hostages and killed four assailants around 12 hours after the extremists launched the assaults on the Splendid Hotel and the Cappuccino Cafe across the road in Ouagadougou. Soldiers were searching nearby hotels to be sure there were no more militants hiding, minister of security and internal affairs Simon Compaore said.
The damaged vehicles from two auto bombs sit outside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 16. A fourth attacker was killed at a nearby hotel. Fighters who spoke by phone later “asserted the fall of many dead Crusaders”, AQIM said, according to SITE. An official said to NY Times that military personnel from the US provided reconnaissance help and surveillance.
“We are saddened by the loss of lives, specifically Canadians, and also all the lives that were impacted by the situation”, she said.
In a statement emailed to Mashable Australia Sunday, the Western Australian family of Ken and Jocelyn Elliott said they were aware of the “alleged abduction” of the couple, but said their whereabouts is still unknown.
Burkina Faso’s communications minister Remi Dandjinou said the couple were Australian nationals, correcting an earlier interior ministry statement identifying them as Austrian. “Our country is not for jihadists or terrorists”.
France’s Ambassador to Burkina Faso Gilles Thibault yesterday gave a higher toll, saying 27 people had been killed.
In addition to trading about $75-million in goods and importing another $48.5-million in the fiscal year 2013-2014, Canada provided $33-million for development assistance in Burkina Faso that same year.
AQIM was behind a similar attack that left 20 dead at a luxury hotel in the Malian capital in November.
Burkina Faso elected Roch Marc Christian Kabore as its new president in a historic vote in November, becoming the West African country’s first new leader in decades.
The attackers were members of the Al-Murabitoun group based in Mali and run by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, SITE said.
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A European diplomatic source confirmed they had received intelligence on Friday that a western couple had been kidnapped in Burkina Faso, without giving their nationality.
