2016 Ouagadougou Islamic terrorist attacks | |
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Part of the Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso, Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) | |
Location | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |
Coordinates | 12°21′40″N1°31′05″W / 12.36111°N 1.51806°W |
Date | 15–16 January 2016 19:30 – ~next morning (GMT) |
Target | Cappuccino restaurant, Splendid Hotel and Yibi hotel with Westerners (Alleged) |
Attack type | Mass shooting, arson, hostage-taking, sieges, counter-attack |
Deaths | 34 (including four attackers) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
Injured | 56+ [3] [6] [7] (including some hostages during the rescue) [8] |
Victims | 176 hostages (rescued) |
Perpetrators | Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Al-Mourabitoun |
No. of participants | 6–7 (4 dead, 2–3 on the run) |
Motive | Islamic terrorism |
On 15 January 2016, gunmen armed with heavy weapons attacked the Cappuccino restaurant and the Splendid Hotel in the heart of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The number of fatalities reached 30, [1] [9] [10] while at least 56 were wounded; a total of 176 hostages were released [3] [11] after a government counter-attack into the next morning as the siege ended. Three perpetrators were also killed. [4] The nearby YIBI hotel was then under siege, where another attacker was killed. Notably, former Swiss MPs Jean-Noël Rey and Georgie Lamon were killed. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Mourabitoun.
Following the Libyan Civil War, neighboring Mali was wracked by instability, including Islamist attacks, in the Northern Mali conflict. Neighboring countries also experienced a Boko Haram insurgency.
In Burkina Faso, the 2014 Burkinabé uprising ousted President Blaise Compaoré, while the consequent 2015 Burkinabe coup d'état, in relation to the electoral process, was eventually put down under pressure from the African Union. The November 2015 general election resulted in Roch Marc Christian Kaboré becoming president of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is part of the G5 Sahel countries formed to counter insurgent attacks. [6] The Splendid Hotel was sometimes used by French troops who were part of the Chad-based Operation Barkhane. [12] The United States had approximately 75 military personnel in the country, including 15 assigned to the embassy and about 60 who provide "security assistance" – training, advising and assisting. [13]
Earlier in the day, at about 14:00 local time, approximately 20 "heavily-armed unidentified individuals" attacked gendarmerie in the village of Tin Abao, near the border with Mali, according to the army. [6] The Security Ministry's Spokeswoman Abi Ouattara also announced that an Austrian couple were kidnapped in the night in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali in the Baraboulé area's [8] village of Djibo. [14] Austrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Thomas Schnoell added that more information was not known but they were "looking into the matter as quickly as possible." [8] However, the couple were later said to be Australian. [3]
On 15 January 2016 at 19:30, [15] according to Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou, six or seven [3] turbaned gunmen, [15] reportedly arrived in four-wheel drive cars and burnt ten vehicles. [10] They attacked the Cappuccino restaurant, which had about 100 guests, according to RTB, [14] and then took hostages [16] at the 147-room [17] four-star [8] Splendid Hotel in the heart of Ouagadougou on Avenue Kwame Nkrumah. [16] Both places are frequented by businessmen and foreigners. A dinner of the ASECNA, which was attended by 200 people, was taking place in the hotel. [18] Some of the perpetrators arrived at the hotel during the day and mingled with guests, while others joined them after nightfall. [14] As Ouagadougou Airport is about 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) from the attack site, Air France and Turkish Airlines flights were diverted to Niamey, Niger. [19]
Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said: "We know that there are victims and there are hostages. Currently the area is blocked by security forces waiting for an assault to free the hostages." According to the head of the city's main hospital there were 20 confirmed deaths, while an unnamed Cappuccino staff member said several people had been killed at the restaurant. [6] At least 20 people were wounded. [20] Robert Sangare, director of Ouagadougou's university hospital centre, said that one European woman being treated at the hospital had said that the perpetrators appeared to target white people. [12] [21] Other survivors, including a Slovenian social anthropologist and a French architect, also reported witnessing white people being "singled out" and double tapped by the attackers. [22] [23] About 10 ambulances were used to ferry the wounded to the hospital through the night. [2]
At 01:00 the next day, the hall was set on fire [24] as commandos tried to free an unknown number of hostages, using explosives to enter the building. Two groups of security forces entered the main lobby five hours after the siege began, as gunfire was reported. [25] RTB reported intense gunfire for 40 minutes in the direction of the hotel. [13] It further noted that about 33 hostages had been freed [4] [26] by security forces, including Minister of Public Services, [13] Labour and Social Security Clément Sawadogo, according to Dandjinou. [26] Gunfire reportedly subsided after an hour of the counter-attack, while bodies were seen outside the hotel. [20] The Splendid Hotel siege ended in the morning [4] with the release of 176 hostages, according to Compoare, [3] almost half of whom were injured in the process. [8]
A group of U.S. and French soldiers came to the site, while a curfew was instated from 23:00 to 06:00. [15] An unnamed U.S. Defence Department official said that France had requested its intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance support in the city and that at least one military member in the country was giving "advice and assistance" to French forces at the hotel. [12] Dozens of the French forces came in from neighbouring Mali. [17] French medical teams were sent to provide support, while forensic officers were also sent to the city. [3]
Following the end of the siege at the Splendid Hotel, the Yibi hotel, located next to Cappuccino, [8] was under attack, according to Interior Minister [27] Simon Compaoré. [28] It followed him saying that nearby hotels were being checked to make sure attackers were not hiding there. [17] At about 07:30, government forces entered the hotel on foot, while sharp shooters were reportedly on the roofs of nearby buildings. Radio Omega reported that a fourth attacker had been killed after seeking refuge at the hotel. [8]
Country | Number | Note |
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Burkina Faso | 10 | [29] |
Canada | 6 | [29] |
Ukraine | 4 | [29] |
France | 2 | [29] |
Switzerland | 2 | [29] |
Italy | 1 | [30] |
Portugal | 1 | [29] |
France/ Morocco | 1 | [29] |
United States | 1 | [29] |
Netherlands | 1 | [29] |
Libya | 1 | [29] |
Total | 30 | [29] |
The gunmen were initially reported to have killed 20 people, [5] but this number was later revised upward to a total of 30 people [1] with one death in the second hotel; at least 56 other people were injured. [3] Three militants were also killed at the first hotel [4] and one in the second hotel. [31] Ten bodies were found at the Cappuccino across the street from the hotel [32] by firefighters. [8] One of the hostages was an Indian citizen, [4] while at least one of the other wounded was French [3] and another was from the U.S. [33]
Persons of 18 nationalities were initially reported as being among the dead. [8] These included: eight locals from Burkina Faso, [3] six Canadians, four of whom were members of the same family from Lac-Beauport, Quebec, another family friend and a member of their visiting party, [34] [35] [36] four Ukrainians of the same family, [37] two each from Switzerland [38] and France, [3] and one each from Portugal, [39] the Netherlands, Italy, Libya and the United States. [3] The latter was working for the Christian group Sheltering Wings. [40] A dual French-Moroccan victim, who was shot multiple times, died in an Ouagadougou hospital three days later. [1] She was Leila Alaoui, a photographer on assignment for Amnesty International. [41]
The two Swiss dead were Georgie Lamon, a former cantonal member of parliament, [42] and Jean-Noël Rey, a former Swiss member of parliament and head of the Swiss post and telecommunications service. Both had been visiting a school created by an association to which they belonged. [2] [40]
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an Islamist militant organization whose ultimate goal is to overthrow the Algerian government and create an Islamic State in its place, [43] claimed responsibility for the attack. [44] SITE Intelligence Group translated a document that outlined the reason for the attack "revenge against France and the disbelieving West" and that the militants were part of the Mali-based Al-Mourabitoun group. [8] It also quoted a statement from the group as reading: "[The] mujahideen brothers...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." [6] The group also "asserted the fall of many dead Crusaders." Eyewitnesses said the perpetrators were "light-skinned" and spoke a language not native to the country. [13] Later, two of the attackers were found to be black and one Arab. [8] Of the initially reported six gunmen, [15] at least two of the four perpetrators found were women, according to an announcement by Kaboré. [8] Compoare added that the bodies of three "very young" attackers were found [3] and that they were no older than 26 years old. [2] It was reported on 22 January that three of the six attackers were still on the run. [45]
President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré presided over an emergency cabinet meeting and then, along with Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba arrived at the attack scene at about lunchtime. Kaboré said it was "a barbaric attack that we must fight." [8] National mourning was observed for 72 hours. [3]
The French embassy announced that a "terrorist attack" was underway and urged its citizens to avoid the area. [6] It added that it had no idea if there were any French citizens inside the hotel. The U.S. embassy issued a statement on Twitter indicating that while it was aware of the situation, there was no indication of any citizens inside the hotel and also urged its citizens to avoid the downtown area of Ouagadougou. [13] The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a similar advisory. [3] French President François Hollande issued a statement early in the morning of 16 January that read: "The President of the Republic expresses his total support for President Kaboré and for the people of Burkina Faso in the face of this odious and cowardly attack which has struck Ouagadougou." Prime Minister Manuel Valls added on Twitter: "By striking Burkina Faso, terrorists have again struck the world. Together we will respond and we will overcome. #JeSuisOuaga" [8] President of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast Guillaume Soro expressed his "compassion and solidarity" to the "government and people." [46] Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks.[ citation needed ] In announcing the deaths of his fellow citizens, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned "these senseless acts of violence on innocent civilians." [3] Reporting that Ukrainians were killed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin stated that he was "shocked by the attack" that was "a tragedy for all of us..." [47] U.S. State Department Spokesman John Kirby later offered condolences on the death of his fellow citizen and added that his family "are with all those affected by this brutality." The U.S. embassy called it a "senseless assault on innocent people." [14] Regional neighbor Algeria's Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra also condemned the attacks and expressed its solidarity with the families of the victims, the government and the Burkinabé people. [48] Ghana's President John Mahama appointed his former chief of staff, Prosper Douglas Bani, as interior minister to reinforce domestic security following the attacks. [49]
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies.
Simon Compaoré is a Burkinabé politician who served as Mayor of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, from 1995 to 2012. He was a prominent member of the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), but he left the CDP and participated in the formation of the opposition People's Movement for Progress (MPP) in 2014. Following the MPP's victory in the 2015 election, he was appointed to the government. He has served as Minister of State for Internal Security since January 2016, and he also held the ministerial portfolio for territorial administration from January 2016 to February 2017.
Clément Pengwendé Sawadogo is a Burkinabé politician who has served in the government of Burkina Faso as Minister of the Civil Service, Labour and Social Security since 2016. He is a member of the People's Movement for Progress (MPP).
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it is currently engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
Al-Mourabitoun was an African militant jihadist organization formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen. On 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group sought to implement Sharia law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger.
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Burkina Faso.
Paul Kaba Thieba is a Burkinabé economist and politician who was appointed and served as Prime Minister of Burkina Faso from 6 January 2016 to 19 January 2019. Thieba was appointed by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on 6 January 2016, shortly after Kaboré took office. Previously he worked at the Central Bank of West African States and the West African Monetary Union.
Leila Alaoui was a French–Moroccan photographer and video artist. She worked as a commercial photographer for magazines and non-governmental organizations and completed assignments on refugees. Her work was exhibited widely and is held in the collection of Qatar Museums. Alaoui died from injuries suffered in a terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Nineteen people were killed and 25 others were injured when suspected jihadists opened fire on a Turkish restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 13 August 2017. Police cornered the attackers, who took hostages and then were killed in an ensuing shootout.
On 2 March 2018, at least eight heavily armed militants launched an assault on key locations throughout Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. Targets included the French embassy and the headquarters of Burkina Faso's military.
On 19 January 2019, the government of Burkina Faso dissolved due to the resignation of Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba and all members of his cabinet. President of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kaboré announced that he intends to form a new government; on 21 January, he began the process of appointing a new government by naming Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré as the new Prime Minister, but his cabinet remains vacant. In the days leading up to the resignation of the government, the country faced a number of attacks from militant terrorist groups, and opposition members of government had previously called for the prime minister and defense ministries to step down, citing an inability to address terrorist attacks.
Terrorism in Burkina Faso refers to non-state actor violence in Burkina Faso carried out with the intent of causing fear and spreading extremist ideology. Terrorist activity primarily involves religious terrorism conducted by foreign-based organizations, although some activity occurs because of communal frustration over the lack of economic development. Recent attacks have concentrated in the Hauts-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, Nord, Sahel, and Est regions, along the border with Mali and Niger. A series of attacks in Ouagadougou in 2016, 2017, and 2018 by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliates garnered international attention.
The Sanmatenga attacks occurred on 8 September 2019 in the Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. In the Barsalogho Department a vehicle transporting people and goods, that was returning from a market, drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). 15 passengers were killed and six were injured in the IED attack. Most of the victims were traders. Meanwhile, around 50 km to the east, a convoy with vans carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting was attacked by gunmen. In this attack, 14 people were killed. It is unknown who carried out this attacks.
The Salmossi mosque attack occurred on the evening of Friday, 11 October 2019 in a mosque in Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso which left 16 people dead and two injured. It happened while the residents were praying inside the Grand Mosque in Salmossi, a village close to the border with Mali. AFP reported that 13 people died on the spot while 3 died later due to the injuries.
The Dolmané gold mine attack occurred on 4 October 2019 near Madouji, Arbinda Department, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. The Dolmané gold mining site was attacked by suspected Islamic terrorists. The attack took place not far from where a bridge linking two northern towns was blown up in mid-September. At least 20 persons, mostly people that worked in the gold mine, were killed and an unknown number of people were injured. Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have affiliated groups in the region. It is unknown which of the two was responsible for this attack.
On 16 February 2020 a large group of gunmen attacked a Protestant service being hosted in the village of Pansi, Burkina Faso. Pansi, a rural village in Yagha Province in the Sahel Region of Burkina Faso, was targeted by terrorists who wanted to loot supplies and dissuade the local population from attending or supporting church services.
An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants.
On 25 May 2022, armed assailants suspected to be jihadists attacked the rural locality of Madjoari in the Kompienga Province of Burkina Faso. The massacre left at least 50 civilians dead as they were attempting to flee a blockade. It was the third attack to take place in Madjoari in May 2022, after an attack on 14 May that killed 17 civilians and another on 19 May that killed 11 soldiers.
An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.