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Burkina Faso: at least 17 dead in attack on restaurant Burkina Faso: at least 17 dead in attack on restaurant
(about 2 hours later)
Suspected Islamist extremists have killed at least 17 people after opening fire on a restaurant popular with foreigners in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou. At least 17 people have been killed in an attack by suspected Islamist militants at a restaurant popular with foreigners in the capital of Burkina Faso.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence on Sunday, which continued into Monday morning with security forces still exchanging heavy fire with attackers who were believed to be holding hostages. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault on Sunday night in Ouagadougou. On Monday security forces exchanged heavy fire with attackers who were believed to be holding hostages.
Remi Dandjinou, the country’s communications minister, told journalists it was a “terror attack” and that at least 17 people were dead and eight others wounded, according to a provisional toll. Experts say a coalition of jihadist groups formed last month is the prime suspect. The alliance includes al-Qaida in the Maghreb (Aqim), one of the most tenacious and effective offshoots of the extremist organisation.
Security forces killed at least two attackers, he said, but people remained inside the building which housed the upmarket Turkish restaurant, Aziz Istanbul. One soldier said there were hostages on the first and second floor of the two-storey building. Officials in Ouagadougou told reporters 17 people had died, including a French national, and eight more were wounded in a terrorist attack on the upmarket Turkish restaurant Aziz Istanbul. Security forces killed two of the attackers, authorities said.
The victims came from several different nationalities, Dandjinou said, but at least one of the dead was a French national. Remi Dandjinou, the communications minister, said a number of people remained inside the two-storey building housing the restaurant. Military sources told Agence France-Presse some were being held as hostages.
A paramedic told Agence France-Presse that one of the victims was Turkish. “We evacuated 11 people but one of them, a Turk, died on arriving at hospital,” the paramedic said, declining to be named. A paramedic told the agency one of the victims was Turkish.
Police captain Guy Ye said three or four assailants had arrived at the restaurant on motorcycles and then began shooting randomly at diners. “We evacuated 11 people but one of them, a Turk, died on arriving at hospital,” the paramedic said, declining to be named.
Police evacuated civilians from the area before launching the counter-assault. Police captain Guy Ye said three or four assailants arrived at the restaurant on motorbikes and began shooting randomly at diners.
The French embassy in Ouagadougou said it was in contact with the local authorities and advised French people to avoid the area around the restaurant, Reuters reported. One woman said she was in the restaurant celebrating her brother’s birthday when the shooting started. “I just ran but my brother was left inside,” she told Reuters.
A woman said she was in the restaurant celebrating her brother’s birthday when the shooting started. “I just ran but my brother was left inside,” the woman told Reuters. Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in west Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It appeared to have escaped the worst of the wave of Islamist militant violence that has swept other parts of west Africa and the Sahel in recent years, including neighbouring Mali, but since 2015 has been increasingly targeted by militant groups.
Security forces arrived at the scene with armoured vehicles after reports of shots fired near the restaurant in Ouagadougou. The attack brought back painful memories of the January 2016 attack at another cafe that left 30 people dead. In January last year 30 people died in an assault by Aqim-linked extremists on a hotel popular with UN staff and foreigners in Ouagadougou. The three attackers were of foreign origin, according to Aqim, which claimed responsibility in the aftermath along with the jihadist group al-Mourabitoun.
Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in west Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It shares a northern border with Mali, which has long battled Islamic extremists. The two groups have now combined with a third in a coalition. Though based in Mali, the new alliance has already struck neighbouring countries and claimed one attack in Burkina Faso last month.
The three attackers in the 2016 massacre were of foreign origin, according to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which claimed responsibility in the aftermath along with the jihadist group known as Al Mourabitoun. But the terror threat in Burkina Faso is increasingly homegrown, experts say. “It is very difficult to say definitively who is responsible for this new attack but precedent would suggest the involvement of Aqim,” said Ryan Cummings, a security expert based in South Africa.
The northern border region is now the home of a local preacher, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, who radicalised his followers and has claimed recent deadly attacks against troops and civilians. His association, Ansarul Islam, is now considered a terrorist group by Burkina Faso’s government. Cummings said Aqim has the motive – Burkina Faso has been supportive of French military operations against jihadis in the region and also hosts French interests – and is one of few groups with the capacity to carry out such an assault.
A new force of 2,800 troops from local states supported by the French and focused on border security is due to begin operations later this month.
One factor driving the violence in the region is the rivalry between jihadist factions. The new alliance is aimed at overcoming “political and ethnic differences and presenting a united facade”, said Cummings.
Other factors include the activities of criminal networks, tensions between pastoralists and farmers, political vendettas and ethnic rivalries.
There is also a homegrown terror threat in Burkina Faso, from a local preacher, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, who radicalised his followers and has claimed recent deadly attacks against troops and civilians.Last month five people were killed in a series of attacks launched by Dicko’s men in the northern province of Soum.