Burkina begins 3 days of mourning

Burkina Faso has begun three days of national mourning and the President said security would be stepped up in the capital and the country’s borders after Al Qaeda militants killed at least 28 people in an attack on a hotel and cafe popular with foreigners.

In a message to the nation, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said the people of Burkina Faso must unite in the fight against terrorism. He also announced on the national broadcaster, Burkina 24, that security forces would be stepping up their efforts to thwart future attacks and asked people to comply with the new restrictions.

“These truly barbaric criminal acts carried out against innocent people, claimed by the criminal organization Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) seek to destabilise our country and its republican institutions, and to undermine efforts to build a democratic, quiet and prosperous nation,” said Mr Kabore.

Meanwhile, AQIM on Monday named three gunmen who killed at least 29 people in an attack on a top hotel in Burkina Faso, including several foreigners.

AQIM said the hotel attacked on Friday night, the four-star Splendid Hotel, was “one of the most dangerous dens of global espionage in the west of the African continent”, according to a statement carried by US-based monitoring group SITE.

The three gunmen were identified in the statement as Battar al-Ansari, Abu Muhammad al-Buqali al-Ansari and Ahmed al-Fulani al-Ansari. AQIM also published photos of the three young men dressed in military fatigues.