Security forces in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou ended an assault today against suspected jihadists who opened fire on a restaurant in a terrorist attack that left at least 18 people dead, the government said.
The attack that began Sunday night in a Turkish restaurant popular with foreigners also left a dozen people injured, while two assailants were later killed, Communications Minister Remis Dandjinou said. It was not clear how many gunmen were involved.
"The operation has ended" but searches are continuing in the Ouagadougou neighbourhood around the restaurant, Dandjinou told a press briefing carried on social media.
The Istanbul restaurant is just 200 metres from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group.
"According to witnesses, at least two assailants arrived on a motorcycle around 9pm armed with Kalashnikovs, opened fire on the Istanbul restaurant," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
A waiter in the restaurant said he saw "three men arrive on a 4X4 vehicle around 9:30 pm, get off the vehicle and open fire on customers seated on the terrace".
Shooting ended around 5 am (0500 GMT), according to an AFP journalist who was near the restaurant.
Dandjinou had earlier said that "some people were held" by the assailants and that "some were released", but gave no further details.
He said the 18 victims were of different nationalities, both Burkinabes and foreigners. Turkey said one of its citizens was among the dead.
Security forces launched a counter-assault at around 10:15 pm against the assailants who were hiding in the building, the police officer said.
The shooting was intense at first and then sporadic, an AFP journalist said.
Video footage posted on Twitter showed people fleeing, as shouting and gunshots are heard. Armed officers in uniform are then seen walking towards the attack site.
An earlier government statement described the shooting as a "terrorist attack."
The wounded were taken to Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital.
"We are overwhelmed," one surgeon told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We have received about a dozen wounded, including three who have died. The condition of the other wounded is critical.
Three of them are currently being operated on." Burkina Faso, a poor landlocked nation bordering Mali and Niger, has seen a string of attacks claimed by jihadist groups in recent years.
A French citizen was killed during an attack by suspected jihadists on a restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital, said a statement issued on behalf of French Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
"The minister presented his condolences to the victims of the attack, which included one French national who died at the scene," said the statement. No further details were given regarding the identity of the French victim.
Le Drian had also discussed the situation in Ouagadougou with his Burkina Faso counterpart, the statement said.
At least 18 people were killed and several wounded during the raid on the restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital overnight, although security forces shot dead both attackers and freed people trapped inside the building.
French President Emmanuel Macron today condemned an overnight assault by presumed jihadists on a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou, calling it a "terrorist attack".
In a statement, Macron also praised the "effective mobilisation" of the Burkina security forces in ending the assault, which left at least 18 people dead, including at least one French national, according to Paris prosecutors.
Macron and his counterpart in the former French colony, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, will discuss the situation, his office said in a statement.
France remains committed to pursuing the fight against terrorist groups in west Africa and accelerating work to set up a planned Sahel force to fight jihadists, the statement said.
Macron visited the region in early July, when he said he wanted the force, which will initially count some 5,000 troops and begin its operations in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, to be operational by the end of August.
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