The threat of Islamist terrorism increases across the world as the day goes by, and our government’s genius response is to lay us down as targets- by proclaiming to the world our chumminess with the United States.
After a terror attack in Indonesia was foiled on Thursday, the latest attack is closer to home- with gunmen taking over the Splendid hotel in the Burkinabe capital- Ouagadougou.
The group of gunmen attacked the hotel and were firing indiscriminately. They captured several hostages and were holed in as Special Forces attempted launching a counter attack.
Over thirty hostages were freed after the first wave, but others remain inside and the terrorists and law enforcement continue to engage in steady gun battles.
Twenty people died in the attack, whilst at least thirty are injured and receiving treatment in hospitals across the city.
Fire raged in the hotel during the attack, and a nearby restaurant was also attacked. The Splendid Hotel is a luxury hotel often patronised by foreigners in Burkina Faso- making this attack mirror the one carried out on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako last November.
According to the BBC, those among the first wave of hostages freed included the Minister of Public Works, Clement Sawadogo. The gunmen are believed to number at least six, and are believed to have been staying at the hotel.
Yahoo also notes that “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to US-based monitoring group SITE.
“The “mujahideen brothers” of AQIM ‘broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion’, SITE quoted the group as saying.”