This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/burkina-faso-attack-live-assault-reported-at-second-hotel-after-troops-end-al-qaeda-hostage-crisis-a6815571.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Burkina Faso attack: Assault reported at second hotel after troops end al-Qaeda hostage crisis at Splendid Hotel | Burkina Faso attack: Assault reported at second hotel after troops end al-Qaeda hostage crisis at Splendid Hotel |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A second assault is underway in Burkina Faso following an attack that killed at least 22 people at the Splendid Hotel. | |
| Announcing that troops had stormed that building, killing three al-Qaeda militants and freeing 126 people, the interior minister confirmed that security operations continued at the Yibi Hotel. | Announcing that troops had stormed that building, killing three al-Qaeda militants and freeing 126 people, the interior minister confirmed that security operations continued at the Yibi Hotel. |
| Simon Compaore had previously said troops were searching nearby buildings to ensure no jihadists were in hiding. | |
| Gunmen stormed had stormed the four-star Splendid Hotel and a nearby café late on Friday night, detonating bombs that set surrounding cars on fire. | Gunmen stormed had stormed the four-star Splendid Hotel and a nearby café late on Friday night, detonating bombs that set surrounding cars on fire. |
| The hotel is popular with Western visitors, United Nations workers, diplomats and and French soldiers based in Burkina Faso for Operation Barkhana, which is fighting Islamist militants across the Sahel region. | |
| A doctor who treated some of those wounded in the attack said victims told him that the attackers appeared to target Westerners but victims’ nationalities were unknown. | |
| Russia’s Honorary Council in Burkina Faso, Anna Rachina-Kulibali, told Tass news agency the Cappuccino Café is owned by a Ukrainian citizen. | |
| “There are foreigners [among the dead], possibly Europeans and locals,” she added. | |
| At least 10 bodies were found in the Cappuccino Café, next to the hotel in Ouagadougou, and there were fears the death toll would rise as security forces moved through the building. | |
| “Three jihadists were killed. They were an Arab and two black Africans,” Mr Compaore told Reuters, adding that 33 hostages had been wounded. | |
| Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the assault, which was believed to be linked to its allied al-Murabitoun group. | Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the assault, which was believed to be linked to its allied al-Murabitoun group. |
| In a message posted in Arabic on its “Muslim Africa” Telegram account, the terrorist group said fighters had “broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion”. | In a message posted in Arabic on its “Muslim Africa” Telegram account, the terrorist group said fighters had “broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion”. |
| Fighters who spoke by phone later ”asserted the fall of many dead Crusaders,“ AQIM said, according to the SITE intelligence group. | |
| 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 on the crisis. | |
| Additional reporting by AP and Reuters | Additional reporting by AP and Reuters |