In sky news..

National Mourning After Burkina Faso 'Bloodbath'

The 29 victims, from 18 countries, were killed in "cowardly and vile" assaults at a hotel and restaurant popular with Westerners.


04:45, UK,Sunday 17 January 2016
Play video "Deadly Attacks In Burkina Faso"









Video: Deadly Attacks In Burkina Faso

Share on Twitter
Share on Facebook
Share on Google+
Share by email


Burkina Faso has declared three days of national mourning after al Qaeda militants struck at a top hotel and restaurant killing 29 people, including 10 foreigners.

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 the capital Ouagadougou.

Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who took office last month, said in a TV and radio address that the nation was "in shock".

"For the first time in its history, our country has fallen victim to a series of barbaric terrorist attacks," he said, adding that the people of Burkina would nevertheless "emerge victorious".

Those killed at the four-star hotel and restaurant, both popular with Westerners and UN staff, came from 18 different countries.
1/3






Gallery: Where The Attack Happened







Gallery: Where The Attack Happened



They include six Canadians, two French and two Swiss nationals as well as an American.

The US citizen was named as Michael James Riddering who moved with his wife to Burkina Faso to run an orphanage.

Burkina Interior Minister Simon Compaore said the bodies of three "very young" jihadists had been identified, all of them men.

A security source said earlier that three attackers - two of them understood to be women - also died at the Splendid Hotel, while a fourth was killed when security forces cleared out a second hotel nearby.

:: Analysis - Mr Marlboro's Legacy Lives On
Play video "Mr Marlboro's Legacy Lives On"









Video: Mr Marlboro's Legacy Lives On