Burkina Faso forces kill 3 militants, hostages trapped in building

Suspected militants killed at least 17 people, wounded eight

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso security forces killed three suspected militant attackers at a restaurant in central Ouagadougou but there are still people trapped inside the building, the Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou said on state TV on Monday.

Suspected militants killed at least 17 people and wounded eight during a raid on a restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital on Sunday, the communications' minister said, as security forces at the scene tried to end the attack.



A Reuters witness saw customers running out of the Aziz Istanbul restaurant in Ouagadougou as police and paramilitary gendarmerie surrounded it amid gunfire.

"This is a terrorist attack," Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou told a news conference. He said the toll was provisional because the security operation was still underway.

A woman said she was in the restaurant celebrating her brother's birthday when the shooting started. "I just ran but my brother was left inside," the woman told Reuters TV as she fled the building.

Burkina Faso, like other countries in West Africa, has been targeted sporadically by militant groups operating across Africa's Sahel. Most attacks have been along its remote northern border region with Mali, which has seen attacks by militants for more than a decade.

Thirty people were killed when gunmen attacked a restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou in January 2016 in an incident claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.



A new al Qaeda-linked alliance of Malian militant groups claimed an attack in June that killed at least five people at a luxury Mali resort popular with Western expatriates just outside the capital, Bamako.

African nations launched a new multinational military force to tackle militants in the Sahel last month, but it won't be operational until later this year and faces a budget shortfall.

France in contact with local authorities over Burkina Faso attack, advises citizens to avoid area

The local French embassy in Burkina Faso is in contact with local authorities regarding the attack on a restaurant and French citizens are advised to avoid the area, the French foreign ministry said in a statement. "Our embassy is being kept informed of the situation due to permanent contact with local authorities," the foreign ministry said in the statement.