OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – According to some unconfirmed reports, Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (Al-Morabiton Brigade) claimed responsibility for Burkina Faso hotel attack.
Ouagadougou hospital chief says at least 27 dead in attack on Burkina Faso hotel frequented by westerners.
French ambassador to Burkina Faso says Air France flight from Paris to Ouagadougou was diverted as a result of hotel attack.
US Embassy personnel have been instructed to avoid downtown Ouagadougou in wake of the attack on Hotel Splendid.
At least 27 people of 18 different nationalities have been killed in an attack on a hotel in the capital of Burkina Faso by al-Qaida-linked militants, security officials have confirmed.
Three jihadis, including an Arab and two black Africans, were also killed in the assault on the Splendid hotel and the nearby Cappuccino cafe in Ouagadougou, officials said. A fourth extremist was killed at the Yibi hotel, which was searched by troops as part of a later raid on nearby buildings.
Burkina Faso’s president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, said two of the attackers had been identified as women. A witness told Agence France-Presse that a fifth attacker was seen rushing into a nearby bar before escaping.
