Aug. 14 (UPI) — Seventeen people were killed and nine others wounded after assailants attacked a cafe in Burkina Faso on Sunday night, according to media reports.
The attack occurred at the Hotel Bravia and the Aziz Istanbul Restaurant in the capital of Ouagadougou, near the city’s popular Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, the BBC reported.
Burkina Faso’s Communication Minister Remis Dandjinou said it was unclear how many attackers participated in the shooting as they have not yet been apprehended.
“They are confined to one part of the building they attacked. Security and elite forces are conducting an operation,” he said.
Witness reports indicate there were three shooters.
Police have closed off the city center and the U.S. embassy warned U.S. citizens to avoid the area.
The attack appears to be similar to the January 2016 attack in which masked gunmen stormed a four-star hotel catering to Westerners in Ouagadougou and killed 30 people, including many foreigners.
Al-Quida took responsibility for that attack, citing “revenge against France and the disbelieving West” as their motive.
