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Burkina Faso: Kabore pays tributes to victims of attack

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso has paid tributes to the victims of the January 15 terrorist attack that led to the deaths of at least 30 people.

Among those who died in the attack were six Canadians who were doing humanitarian work in the country, a 67-year-old Dutch volunteer, three French nationals and an American missionary.

The assault on a hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, was claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore led the national tributes in a public ceremony on Monday and denounced the attacks.

“Despite the magnitude of pain, we must not yield to any pressure. Human life is sacred to be removed by individuals with wildly amoral values and a damned heart,” said the Burkinabe head of state.

On Saturday, hundreds of people dressed in white took to the streets of Ouagadougou to pay homage to the victims in a silent march that began at 1940 GMT on Saturday, the exact time that Al-Qaeda-affiliated gunmen had launched their deadly attack eight days before.

The assault in the Burkina Faso capital was the first to occur in the West African nation and came weeks after Islamists claimed an attack in neighbouring Mali.

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