Over 20 killed as Burkina Faso hotel siege declared over

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Saturday 16 Jan 2016 - 13:26 Makkah mean time-6-4-1437 Ouagadougou (IINA) – A siege is over at a Burkina Faso hotel seized by suspected Muslim gunmen, the government said, but reports say a nearby hotel is now under attack. In all, 126 people including the labor minister were freed at the Splendid Hotel in the West African state's capital Ouagadougou, the interior minister said. Three gunmen were killed, he added, amid reports of 20 deaths during the attack, which also targeted a café, BBC reported. Dozens of French forces from neighboring Mali aided in the rescue. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack. Security forces began an assault to reclaim the Splendid Hotel in the early hours of Saturday and entered its lobby, part of which was on fire, Reuters reported. The hotel is frequented by Westerners, which may have made it a target for the militants. It was the first time militants have carried out an assault in the capital of Burkina Faso and comes as a setback to efforts by African governments, France and the U.S. to prevent attacks that have destabilized the region. It follows a raid on a luxury hotel in Mali last November in which two attackers killed 20 people, including citizens of Russia, China and the U.S. There have been many attacks by militants in other countries in West Africa in recent years and the vast majority of those killed have been Africans. Robert Sangare, director of Ouagadougou’s university hospital center, said that among an initial batch of 15 people brought to hospital some had bullet wounds while others had injuries from falls. Patients saw around 20 bodies, and one European woman being treated at the hospital said the attackers appeared to target Westerners, said Sangare, who had spoken to the patients. The hotel is sometimes used by French troops with Operation Barkhane, a force based in Chad and set up to combat Islamist militants across West Africa’s vast, arid Sahel region. A U.S. defense official said France, the former colonial power, had requested U.S. intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance support in the city, and at least one U.S. military member in Burkina Faso was giving “advice and assistance” to French forces at the hotel. French President Francois Hollande condemned the "odious" attack. HA/IINA