Two Canadians are among 18 people killed in a suspected extremist attack on a popular restaurant in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed Monday.
“My heartfelt condolences, the heartfelt condolences of our government go out to the loved ones of those targeted and the victims of this tragic attack,” Freeland said at a press conference on Monday.
The identities of the Canadians killed in the attack were not disclosed. Freeland said she didn’t have any further details to share on the tragedy “out of respect for the next of kin.”
Burkinabe authorities say other foreigners killed in the Sunday evening attack on the Aziz Istanbul cafe, which is popular with expatriates, include two Kuwaitis and one person each from France, Senegal, Nigeria, Lebanon and Turkey.
Seven Burkina Faso citizens were also killed and authorities said three other victims had not yet been identified.
The assailants arrived at the restaurant on motorcycles and then began shooting randomly at the crowds dining Sunday evening.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence, which continued into the early hours Monday.
Gunfire could be heard almost seven hours after the attack began.
President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré condemned the “cowardly terror attack”, saying the people of Burkina Faso would not give in to terrorism.
A jihadist attack on a nearby luxury hotel in January of last year killed 30 people, including six Canadians.
The three attackers in the 2016 massacre were of foreign origin, according to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which claimed responsibility in the aftermath 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 recent deadly attacks against troops and civilians. His association, Ansarul Islam, is now considered a terrorist group by Burkina Faso’s government.
With files from The Associated Press
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