Burkina Faso Hostage Siege Over: 126 Freed, At Least 20 Killed In Islamist Attack

Army forces drive near Hotel Splendid where the attackers remain with sporadic gunfire continuing in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on January 15, 2016 © Ahmed Ouoba / AFP

The terrorist takeover of the luxury Splendid hotel in the Burkina Faso capital is over, with all three militants reportedly killed and 126 hostages freed. The number of victims of the assault has not been yet been calculated, but no less than 20 are presumed dead.

Interior Minister Simon Compaore told AFP that altogether 126 people have been rescued from the Splendid hotel, with three attackers reportedly being killed.

RT/Media reports continue:

The upper floors of the hotel seized by the terrorists have been rigged with explosive, a senior gendarme officer told Reuters.

“What's making our job more difficult is that they've rigged the access to the upper floors,” the Burkinabe officer said, on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

Terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

The attackers 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, AP cites a message posted in Arabic on the militants' “Muslim Africa'” Telegram account as saying.

Two groups of security forces, reportedly local law enforcement and French special service personnel, were taking part in the assault to neutralize the terrorists inside the hotel. Both groups entered the hotel through lobby partly set on fire.

American and French soldiers were seen gathering on the scene before the counter-assault began, according to local reporters who tweeted out pictures of Special Forces by the hotel.

There are some 75 American troops in Burkina Faso, of them 15 are assigned to the US embassy and about 60 are assisting the French military to handle the hostage crisis, a source told AP. The US is providing the French forces in Burkina Faso with surveillance and reconnaissance data.

The number of victims from the terrorist attack remains unknown at the moment.

Internal Affairs Minister Simon Compaore said at least 10 bodies have been found inside the Cappuccino Cafe, a restaurant located next to the Splendid Hotel.

“We know that the gunmen won't get out of the hotel alive,” an eyewitness told Associated Press. “Our country is not for jihadists or terrorists. They got it wrong.”

The director of the Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital, Robert Sangare, has told AFP that at least 20 people have been killed and 15 others injured in the ongoing attack.

“For the dead, we do not have a precise figure, but there are at least 20 dead,” Sangare said. “We have had at least 15 wounded with bullet wounds and others who suffered injuries during the panic to escape.”

The terrorists attacking the hotel spoke by phone with AQIM, asserting the “fall of many dead crusaders,” according to SITE.

The gunmen first attacked Cappuccino Cafe, a restaurant located across the street from the hotel and owned by a Ukrainian national, Russia’s Honorary Council in Burkina Faso, Anna Rachina-Kulibali, told TASS.

Rachina said that there are foreign nationals among the dead, adding that is still unknown whether any of the victims were Russian.

“There are foreigners [among the dead], possibly Europeans and locals.”

The shooting was initiated by three armed and turbaned men, an AFP journalist reported from the scene. A car was on fire outside the Splendid Hotel, he added. The property is frequently used by Westerners and UN agency staff.

“It is continuing at this time. We are trying to know how many attackers they are to better coordinate our actions. Hostages have been taken. The operation could take several hours,” an officer who requested not to be named told Reuters.

In December, AQIM’s senior member called on the extremist group to wage war on several countries, including Burkina Faso.

Ouagadougou imposed a curfew from 2300 GMT to 0600 GMT, France’s ambassador to the country, Gilles Thibault, said on his Twitter account. Meanwhile, the embassy has opened a crisis unit for French nationals. There are over 3,500 French citizens currently residing in Burkina Faso.

A social media user from the West African country reported that a “red level” alert has been announced in the city, with an “ongoing hostage taking in Ouagadougou, deaths, wounded [and] fire.”

The user said that the city center is an “insecure area” and advised the public not to go there and “warn relatives.”

The attack coincides with recent Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) related attacks in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, in which at least 7 people were killed, and another at an Egyptian hotel.

Last November, jihadists carried out a similar attack in Burkina Faso’s neighboring Mali, killing at least 19 in a 190-room Radisson hotel in the capital city of Bamako.

The domestic situation in Burkina Faso has been tense since October 2014, when veteran President Blaise Compaoré was overthrown in a five-day protest.