Attack at Hotel in Burkina Faso’s Capital

Attack at Hotel in Burkina Faso’s Capital

At Least 10 Bodies Found in a Burkina Faso Cafe

At least 10 bodies were found in a cafe that was attacked by Al Qaeda fighters as part of their assault on the Splendid Hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital, a government minister told The Associated Press on Saturday

Internal Affairs Minister Simon Compaore said the bodies were found inside the Cappuccino Cafe, a restaurant next to the luxury hotel. Witnesses said that burning cars could be seen in front of the cafe when it was attacked on Friday

The identities and nationalities of the victims were not clear

French and Burkinabe security forces were engaged in an operation to retake the hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning. It remained unclear how many people had been taken hostage or killed when the fighters attacked the 147-room hotel on Friday evening

Survivors Recount Carnage in Burkina Faso Hotel Attack

A French television network reported that at least 20 people had been killed in the attack on the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou

The network, France 24, interviewed two survivors, both of whom declined to give their names. One, a woman whose eyes were wide with shock as she spoke, said the hostage-takers had shot a man in front of her

“There was someone in front of me and they shot him and he fell onto me,” she said, her face covered in soot

Another survivor told the network that his memories of the hotel’s interior were dominated by images of smoke and blood. He said he had only survived by escaping through a broken window

“People were lying on the ground and there was blood everywhere,” he said. “They were shooting people at point-blank range. When they left they set fire to the place and the smoke started to suffocate me and the other survivors