Al-mourabitoun group is behind the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel which claimed several lives. The group merged with AQIM only last month.
Exchanges of fire are currently going on at the site of the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel. The security forces are trying to break a siege by militants. Around thirty hostages were free during the night at the Ouagadougou luxury Splendid Hotel but there are fears that almost twenty people may have lost their lives. al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel had begun with bombs as gunmen stormed the hotel as well as a nearby cafe.
AQIM or al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has stated that it was behind the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel in the West African nation. The president of Francois Hollande condemned the attacks as ‘odious and cowardly attack’. French forces are taking part in the operations against the AQIM militants.
The minister of communications of Burkinabe Remi Dandjinou told the BBC that the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel were carried out by at least seven gunmen who had been staying at the same hotel. He also stated that the Minister of Public Works, Clement Sawadogo was also among the people who had been freed from the hotel. He further added that there are at least thirty three people in the hospital under treatment.
Burkinabe forces backed by Special Forces from France are deployed at the site of the hotel which is the main hub for Westerners and UN staff members.
The chief of the hospital Robert Sangare stated that survivors of the attacks had said that around twenty people had lost their lives during the initial phase of the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel. This had happened before the assault by the security forces began at the hotel.
Simon Compaore, the interior minister said that ten bodies had been recovered from the Cappuccino café situated near the hotel. The al-Mourabitoun group recently merged with the AQIM and it was allegedly also involved in the al Qaeda attack in Burkina Faso hotel.
Eyewitnesses have told different news channels that the attackers entered the Cappuccino cafe in the initial phase of the attack. An employee at the cafe told AFP that ‘many people’ had been killed at the cafe.
There were reports of gunfire exchanges between security forces and the attackers. Sporadic gunfire was also being heard from the inside of the hotel. The hotel is situated near the international airport.
The SITE monitoring group has reported that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was behind the attacks. The group specifically named the a-Mourabitoun group as the responsible group. The al-Mourabitoun is based in the Northern Mali located in the Sahara desert. The group consists of militant fighters loyal to the Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
The groups announced last month that it was merging with the al Qaeda. The leader of the group had fought with the Afghan Mujahidin in the 1980s. He used to be a member of the AQIM but had left due to differences with the al Qaeda leadership.
