Grand Bassam attack: Two Ivorian soldiers sentenced 10 years in jail

Two Ivorian soldiers accused of links with the perpetrators of a March attack on a beach resort that left 19 people dead, were sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday.

Sergeants Zanga Zoumana Coulibaly and Brice Toure are being prosecuted for disobeying orders and associating with criminals.

The charges relate to the pair’s alleged meeting with Assane Barry, also known as Sam, one of the main suspects in the Islamist attack on the resort town of Grande Bassam.

On March 13, three assailants armed with grenades and assault rifles stormed three hotels in Grand Bassam, a resort popular with expats that lies 40 kilometres from Abidjan.

The attack, the first of its kind in the Ivory Coast, was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which has also carried out similar assaults on tourist hotspots in Mali and Burkina Faso