Burkina Faso Security forces hunt possible surviving attackers, 14 foreigners dead

Security forces are hunting for any possible surviving gunmen from an attack on a hotel in Burkina Faso that left at least 29 people deadand showed the expanding reach of regional jihadists in West Africa.

The drama saw Burkinabe troops, backed by French special forces, battle militants who stormed the four-star Splendid Hotel, which is popular with foreigners and United Nations staff, ABC News reported.

At least 14 foreigners — four Canadians, three Ukrainians, two French nationals, two Portuguese, two Swiss and a Dutch person — are among the dead, according to a government toll.

Burkina Faso has declared three days of national mourning following the onslaught, which echoed another Al Qaeda attack last year on a luxury hotel in neighbouring Mali where 20 people were killed, mostly foreigners.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed the latest attack on behalf of an affiliate, saying the gunmen were from the Al-Murabitoun group ofnotorious one-eyed Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

It is still not clear how many attackers took part in the onslaught — the bodies of three have been identified, but some witnesses reported seeing more.

Source: MENA