18 killed in ‘ terrorist attack’ on Burkina Faso restaurant

At least 18 people including foreigners were killed and a dozen others wounded in a “terrorist attack” by suspected jihadists on a Turkish restaurant in the capital of Burkina Faso, the government said Monday.

Two assailants were also killed by security forces who launched a counter- assault following Sunday night’s attack on the restaurant popular with foreigners, Communications Minister Remis Dandjinou said. It was not clear how many gunmen were involved.

The security operation “has ended” but searches are continuing in buildings in the Ouagadougou neighborhood around the restaurant, Dandjinou told a press briefing early Monday carried on social media.

The Istanbul restaurant is just 200 meters ( yards) from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( AQIM) group.

A government statement described the latest deadly shooting as a “terrorist attack,” while President Roch Marc Christian Kabore condemned it as “a despicable attack that has Ouagadougou in mourning.”

“The fi ght against terrorism is a long- term struggle,” he said in a Twitter message.

A police offi cer who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity cited witnesses as saying at least two assailants arrived on a motorcycle around 9: 00 pm on Sunday armed with Ka- lash niko vs, and opened fire on the Istanbul restaurant.

A waiter also said he saw “three men arrive on a vehicle around 9: 30 pm, get off the vehicle and open fire on customers seated on the terrace.”

Dandjinou had earlier said that “some people were held” by the assailants and that “some were released”, but gave no further details.

He said the 18 victims were of different nationalities, both Burkinabes and foreigners.

Turkey said one of its citizens was among the dead, while Paris prosecutors said at least one French national died in the shooting, which French President Emmanuel Macron condemned as a “terrorist attack.”