Burkina Faso holds key attack suspect

Ouagadougou – A suspected key figure in the deadly Burkina Faso attacks has been arrested, a government source said yesterday.

Saying the person held could be “one of the brains” behind Friday’s attacks, the source said there were “very strong suspicions” that “army infiltrators” had passed information to the assailants for the coordinated attacks in the capital claimed by GSIM, a jihadist group allied to Al-Qaeda.

Yesterday saw further unrest when one person was shot dead after three people attempted to storm a roadblock in the early hours near the presidential compound, a government source said.

Two of the trio managed to flee the scene, but the third was arrested and gunned down after attempting to seize the weapon of a guard, the source said.

The suspect in custody was arrested several hours after Friday’s twin attacks on the French embassy and the military HQ in the capital Ouagadougou saw seven soldiers killed, said the source. That was a new toll after eight had been declared dead. The source added that nine assailants were killed, one more than previously reported. At least 80 people were injured.

The government has said the attack on the military HQ was a suicide car bombing and that a regional antiterrorism meeting may have been the intended target. GSIM said the attacks were a response to the deaths of some of its leaders in a French army raid in Mali two weeks ago.