Tourists have been warned not to travel to an area of Burkina Faso after a deadly attack by suspected Islamic terrorists on a hotel that is popular with Westerners.
The warning came after reports that masked gunmen stormed the four-star Splendid Hotel in central Ouagadougou, in the west African state on Friday evening. It is used by United Nations staff and Westerners.
Communications minister Remis Dandjinou said 30 hostages, including public works minister Clement Sawadogo, were later freed from the hotel by security forces backed by French troops.
Forces from Burkina Faso and France are battling to retake the luxury hotel.
At least 10 bodies have been found in a cafe next door to the Splendid Hotel, which was also attacked.
Dozens of French forces arrived overnight from neighbouring Mali. One US military member was embedded with French forces at the scene of the attack and America was working to provide France with surveillance and reconnaissance help, according to a senior US senior defence official.
It was not immediately known how many people remained inside the Splendid Hotel following the attack which began on Friday night, though one survivor estimated as many as 20 were dead inside.
Vital Nounagnon said he saw four men attack the hotel and neighbouring Cappuccino Cafe at about 7.30pm local time.
Another witness who gave only his first name, Gilbert, said that when Burkinabe security forces first arrived, they turned around rather than confront the attackers.
“But we know that the gunmen won’t get out of the hotel alive,” he said. “Our country is not for jihadists or terrorists. They got it wrong.”
The local al Qaida affiliate known as AQIM claimed responsibility in an online statement as the attack raged, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
In a message posted in Arabic on the militants’ “Muslim Africa” Telegram account, the al Qaida group said fighters “broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion”.
The largely Muslim country has been in turmoil since its long-time president was ousted in a popular uprising in late 2014.
Last September, members of a presidential guard launched a coup that lasted only about a week. The transitional government returned to power until Burkina Faso’s November election ushered in new leaders.
Al Qaida was also behind a similar siege in November at the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital Bamako, that left 20 dead.
Malian troops, backed by French and American special forces, retook the building and freed terrified guests and hotel staff after a siege that lasted more than seven hours.
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