Al Qaeda identifies fighters behind attack in Burkina Faso

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have issued a formal statement on Monday to identify three attackers it says were responsible for deadly raid in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The attack in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Friday last week left 29 people dead and 55 injured.

In the statement, AQIM identified the three attackers as Al Battar Al Ansari, Abu Muhammad Al Buqali Al Ansari and Ahmed Al Fulani Al Ansari, according to Reuters. AQIM said in the statement that it called the attack a "drop in the sea of global jihad".

Fighters from a militant group affiliated to Al Qaeda attacked the Capuccino restaurant and the Splendid Hotel on Friday night. The gunmen were taking advantage of fragile and weak states to hit western targets.

According to Quartz, the attack in Burkina Faso is the second time in a couple months that militants launched an assault directed at an establishment popular with foreigners. Another attack occured in neighboring Mali in November 2015. Gunmen stormed the Radisson Hotel in Bamako, killed 21 people and took 170 people hostage with many of whom westeners.

In both Mali and Burkina Faso cases, the militant group Al Qaeda and the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility.

In Monday statement, Al Qaeda included the picture of the three attackers who are responsible in Burkina Faso, carrying guns. Two of them were black, and another might be from Arab or Tuareg group.

Burkina Faso officials said military forces killed the three attackers in the Splendid Hotel and one another in a neighboring hotel during the siege that was ended on last Saturday.

Another attack  also occured in northern Burkina Faso over the weekend. Unknown assailants abducted an elderly Australian doctor and his wife near the Malian border. French ambassador to Burkina faso, Gilles Thibault, told journalists that he believed the two attacks on the same day were linked in some way.

According to Chicago Tribune, the country's capital tightened its security on Monday as businesses and banks reopened. Burkina Faso also announced a joint effort with neighboring Mali in the fight against jihadi elements in the West African region.

Burkina Faso's security minister, Simon Compaore, confirmed on Sunday 32 people including three jihadist were dead in the assault. The victims include a Ukrainian woman along with her 9 year old son, six Canadians, seven Burkina Faso citizens, two Swiss, two French, and one each from the U.S., the Netherlands, Portugal and Libya. Other bodies were still being identified.

Tags

Al Qaeda, Burkina Faso, West Africa, AQIM, jihad, jihadist, militant

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