18 people have died and approximately 20 more have been injured in an attack at an outdoor cafe-restaurant in Ougadougou the capital of Burkina Faso. The shooting began at 21:00 (GMT) on Sunday evening and continued into Monday morning with the attackers allegedly holding hostages.
Police captain Guy Ye said three or four assailants arrived at the restaurant on motorcycles and opened fired on diners who were seated in the “Aziz Istanbul”, an upmarket restaurant. Police first evacuated civilians from the area and then went in to deal with the attackers. Two of them were shot dead during the offensive.
Communications Minister, Remis Dandjinou, called the incident a “terrorist attack“, and the 2 dead attackers “terrorists”. He said that the victims of the attack were from different countries. It has since be confirmed that foreigners killed include two Kuwaitis, two Canadians, and one each from France, Lebanon, Nigeria, Senegal and Turkey. Three victims have not yet been identified.
Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, is no stranger to terror attacks. In 2016 an attack on a hotel was claimed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb together with a jihadist group known as Al Mourabitoun. Also at a cafe in Ougadougou, 28 people were murdered, and 50 injured during the 12 hour seige. Although it borders Mali, known to be the home to many Islamic extremists, experts are saying that terror threats in the country are increasingly “homegrown”.
