B. Faso gov't says four attackers were neutralised in suspected terrorist attack

The government of Burkina Faso has issued a statement on the explosion and gunfire that rocked different locations of the capital city, Ouagadougou, including the army headqurters.

According to the statement, ‘armed men attacked the French Embassy and army headquarters on Friday 02 March’.

The French embassy which had earlier posted on its Facbook page that it was ‘under attack’ has since modified that message to say that an attack is underway at ‘locations whose uncertainty’ is unknown at this stage.

The government statement added that the country’s defence and security forces neutralised four assailants in the attack.

Government has since urged the citizenry to calm down and stay away from the affected areas as the military restores calm.

The Africanews correspondent in Ouagadougou reported that armed men dressed in national military uniforms were seen getting out of cars and firing.

The assailants have not yet been identified, although the mayor of the city Armand Roland Pierre Béouindé earlier blamed jihadists for the attack.

Burkina Faso’s Defence Minister Jean-Claude Bouda was also quoted by media channel Jeune Africa, saying it is a “terrorist attack on the staff, and the embassy of France,” news site Jeune Afrique reports.