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Burkina Faso in turn hit by terrorism. Several European casualties (Maj2)

(credit: DICOD/EMA)
(credit: DICOD/EMA)

(B2) The attack perpetrated in Ouagadougou (Burkina-Faso) against several bars and restaurants frequented by expatriates (the Taxi Brousse and the Cappuccino), and the Hotel Splendid, on Friday evening (January 15) killed at least 29 people , including several Burkinabes (8 according to an initial assessment)

Among the foreign victims (*):

  • three French (according to the Quai d'Orsay). Two worked for the same company, Scales, from Saint-Ouen l'Aumône (see 20 minutes). As well as the French-Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui, seriously injured, who succumbed to her injuries
  • a Portuguese who lived in France (married to a Frenchwoman) and also worked at Scales.
  • two Swiss (the former head of the Post Office Jean-Noël Rey and a former deputy from Valais Georgie Lamon, according to the RTS).
  • a Dutchman (a 67-year-old man, international volunteer, according to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
  • four Ukrainians, who belong to the same family: the wife and 9-year-old son of the owner of Cafe Cappuccino, the sister and mother of his wife.
  • an American (a Mike Riddering missionary, who worked at Les Ailes de Refuge orphanage).
  • six Canadians (from Quebec).
  • a Libyan.

Thirty people were also injured.

Burkinabe security forces, backed by French special forces and American support (ISR - surveillance and intelligence), led the assault, freeing some 150 hostages. The technical and scientific police and the anti-terrorist sub-directorate of the national police sent elements on the spot to participate in the investigation, as did the National Gendarmerie which sent six experts from the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN).

The attack claimed by the group of Mokhtar Belmokhtar (Al-Mourabitoune), affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) as well as that of the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako. An attack “coordinated” with that of a convoy of the gendarmerie and the kidnapping of two Australian nationals in the north of the country,” said Burkinabe Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba during a extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers. Three of the Ouagadougou attackers died on the spot. A commando who included women said Prime Minister Thieba.

« This heinous, cowardly and despicable attack will in no way affect our common determination to fight terrorism in all its forms. “said the Malian president for his part. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK)" I express my solidarity with the brotherly people of Burkina Faso and condemn with the utmost rigor this unspeakable barbarism " he added.

(NGV)

(*) Several had dual nationality, hence sometimes different counts

Read on Libération the story of the survivors

Read also:

And our file N°32:  2015 Europe facing a new wave of terrorism

(Update) Sun 17.1 17 p.m. - National report + declaration by the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso - Tue 19.1 - death of a seriously injured person

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

2 thoughts on “Burkina Faso in turn hit by terrorism. Several European casualties (Maj2)"

  • And how many Burkinabés? Shame you don't know! We're talking about dead Damn! So why this segregation?

    • I understand your outrage. But I don't share it in any way.

      1° We are a European site and naturally we are primarily interested in European and local citizens (Quebecers, etc.). And it must be recognized that in this attack, even if Burkinabais are among the victims, they were not the main targets. Evidenced by the location targeted and the number of foreign victims.

      2° We take confirmed information from quasi-official sources. And, of course, we have better sources of information in European capitals than in African ones. We are modifying this article as we have more precise confirmations.

      3° We do not segregate. On the contrary. We are very often one of the few sites in Europe to mention all the nationalities mentioned whose nationality we can accurately identify (to avoid any error). Take the paragraph on the intervention of the security forces, you will see that we try to mention everyone, in the first place the people of Burkina Faso.

      In the past, we have done this. You will find that we have spoken just as much about other nationalities, whether after Bamako in Mali
      http://www.bruxelles2.eu/2015/03/07/attentat-a-bamako-plusieurs-victimes-europeennes/

      and in Paris, on November 13. We were even one of the first sites to list all the 'other' nationalities than just the French.
      http://www.bruxelles2.eu/2015/11/14/plusieurs-victimes-europeennes/

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