18 killed in attack on restaurant in Burkina Faso capital

Suspected Islamic extremists opened fire at a Turkish restaurant in the capital of Burkina Faso late on Sunday, killing at least 18 people in the second such attack on a restaurant popular with foreigners in the last two years.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence, which continued into the early hours on Monday. Gunfire could be heard almost seven hours after the attack began.

In addition to those killed, eight others were wounded, Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou told journalists. Two of the attackers were also killed, he said.

The victims came from several different nationalities, he said. At least one of the dead was French and another was Turkish.

Security forces arrived at the scene with armored vehicles after reports of shots fired near Aziz Istanbul, an upscale restaurant in Ouagadougou. The attack brought back painful memories of the January 2016 attack at another cafe that left 30 people dead.

Three or four assailants arrived at the restaurant on motorcycles and then began shooting randomly at the crowds dining on Sunday evening, said police Captain Guy Ye.

Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation in West Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It shares a northern border with Mali, which has long battled Islamic extremists.

In the 2016 attack the attackers were of foreign origin, according to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which claimed responsibility for those killings along with the jihadist group known as Al Mourabitoun. But the terror threat in Burkina Faso is increasingly homegrown, experts say.

The northern border region is now the home of a local preacher, Ibrahim Malam Dicko, who radicalized and has claimed responsibility for recent deadly attacks against troops and civilians. His association, Ansarul Islam, is now considered a terrorist group by Burkina Faso's government.