I. Coast toll climbs to 19, govt urges ‘back to business’
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast: The toll from a jihadist shooting rampage at an Ivory Coast resort rose to 19 Wednesday when a body washed up on the beach, as the president said the country would not be cowed.
Images of the body of the young man shot in the head featured on state-run RTI television, which quoted its finder as saying it had been “washed back by the waves”.
Several witnesses had reported seeing the attackers firing on people bathing in the sea or swimming.
“Ivory Coast will not be intimidated,” said President Alassane Ouattara on chairing an extraordinary cabinet meeting in the popular beach town of GrandBassam where Sunday’s shooting took place, urging the nation to show “our unity and strength.”
Sunday’s attack by at least three gunmen was claimed by an AlQaeda affiliate. It was the first in the country but the third such recent incident in West Africa.
Attacks also claimed by AlQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) took place in Mali in November, and Burkina Faso in January, likewise targeting venues frequented by foreigners.
“I’m sure business activity at the hotels will be back to normal this weekend,” said Ouattara.
“We want to tell the hoteliers that we must do everything we can to get back to business.”
The attack has raised concerns it could affect the country’s key tourist industry, just as Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, was rebuilding its economy after years of unrest.
Nationals from several different countries were among those killed when the gunmen stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets.
Government spokesman Bruno Kone said the dead included eight Ivorians, a Nigerian, four French citizens, a German and a Macedonian woman and a Lebanese national. Three Ivorian special forces troops were also killed.
The sleepy town of GrandBassam, with its pristine beaches and Unesco-listed French colonialera buildings, is a short drive from Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s main city and commercial capital, and is packed with visitors at weekends. — AFP