BURKINA FASO: 8 arrested in connection with deadly attack on army hqrts, French embassy

Authorities in Burkina Faso have reportedly arrested no less than eight suspects in connection with last week’s attack on the army headquarters and the French embassy in the country’s capital of Ouagadougou.

Reports say eight people including two Burkinabe soldiers have been arrested in connection with the attack which witnessed the killing of 16 people including eight gunmen and also recorded the wounding of over 80 people during the incident.

Read also: BURKINA FASO: Attack on army hqtrs, French embassy claimed by Al Qaeda

Investigators suspect the attackers received inside help when they targeted a room where leading army officials were supposed to be having a meeting.

“An ex-soldier and two others still on duty are among those arrested by investigators,” prosecutor Maizan Sereme told reporters late on Tuesday. She added that more than 60 victims and witnesses had been questioned.

The coordinated attack on the army headquarters and French embassy has been claimed by a Mali-based al Qaeda affiliate identified as Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).

According to reports, the group carried out the attack in response to the killing of one of its leaders, Mohamed Hacen al-Ancari, in a recent raid by French forces according to Mauritanian news agency Alakhbar.

 

 

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