Al Qaeda Ouagadougou Hotel attack: 29 dead, 30 injured

Twenty-nine people have been confirmed dead while thirty are injured in new figures released by Burkina Faso officials.

The new death toll is an increase of three from the earlier reported of 26 as a result of a planned jihadist commando-style attack on a private hotel frequented by foreigners

Bodies of three of the jihadist attackers have been identified with a major rescue search also underway for survived hostages.

Interior Minister Simon Compaoré said that the attackers were “very young”.

Militants believed to be cells of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group attacked the Splendid Hotel in the West African state’s capital, Ouagadougou, as well as a cafe and another hotel close by.

A total of 126 people were freed from the four-star Splendid hotel after security forces retook the facility and nearby Cappuccino restaurant on Saturday more than 12 hours after the attack began, Compaore told AFP.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who took office just last month, a year after a popular uprising ousted longtime leader Blaise Compaore, called on his fellow citizens to show “courage”.

Burkina Faso has “never caved in under any circumstances and it’s not going to start now,” he said.

Swiss foreign ministry says two Swiss citizens were killed in attacks by al-Qaeda militants on hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso