OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – Burials have begun for the 10 Burkina Faso nationals killed in last week’s attack on a cafe and hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, highlighting the local toll suffered in the latest West African country targeted by Islamic extremists.
Three burial services were held Friday and more were expected over the weekend, as Burkina Faso remains fearful of further violence.
For many in Ouagadougou, the attack – the first of its kind in Burkina Faso – points to the need for more stringent security measures to help the country rebound from a period of unrest, including the toppling of the longtime President Blaise Compaore in 2014 and a brief, failed coup last September.
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“We are asking our authorities to ensure security and we wish these measures to be visible,” said Celestin Pierre Zoungrana, chairman of the hotel and restaurant owners’ association in Burkina Faso. “We thought the economy was back on track and we could revamp but we made a mistake and set down our arms, and the terrorists proved us wrong.”
Security worries were further heightened on Friday, when soldiers who belonged to Burkina Faso’s former presidential guard attacked an armoury west of the country’s capital. The elite force, loyal to Compaore, was behind last year’s coup attempt and was later disbanded. Officials said Saturday night that 10 soldiers and one civilian had been arrested in connection with the armoury raid.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was inaugurated as president at the end of last year and named his cabinet just days before the Jan. 15 violence. The new team must respond to the changing security situation, said Cynthia Ohayon, West Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group. “They will have to reorganize the guards, their equipment and their know-how,” she said.
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