Four attackers at the French Embassy in Burkina Faso have been ‘neutralized’, the government has said, with a military headquarters among the targets under attack.
The government said the capital Ouagadougou was being assaulted by suspected Islamic extremists as explosions and gunfire erupted around the city.
The violence will trigger fears of a renewed round of Islamist violence in the West African nation that has been rocked by incursions made by jihadist groups based in neighboring Mali.
Gunfire, explosions and dense black smoke rocked Burkina Faso’s capital earlier Friday in what the police said was a suspected attack by Islamic extremists
An abandoned vehicle and a motorbike are pictured as smoke rises in the background near Burkina Faso’s army headquarters in the capital Ougadougou
Men escape from Burkina Faso’s army headquarters during an attack in the capital Ougadougou
By midday the gunfire became intermittent and helicopters flew above the French Embassy in Ouagadougou
Police earlier urged people to keep calm and avoid areas where there might be gunfire within the ‘vicinity of the Prime Ministry and the United Nations roundabout’, CNN reported.
However the Prime Minister’s office posted on Facebook that it was not affected by the attack.
Freelance journalist Yacouba Ouédraogo, who is in Ouagadougou, told CNN the shooting had stopped and that the people who attacked the army headquarters wore Burkinabe army clothes.
The fear is that violnce in Burkina Faso will escalate because militants from neighbouring Mali are infiltrating into the country
The army headquarters was said to have been struck by gunmen on Friday
Ouagadougou has seen extremism before, most notably the attack on the Splendid Hotel in January 2016
The government said two of the four attackers were killed at the embassy and at least two at the army headquarters.
Soldiers and police officers are reported to be among the wounded but no civilian casualties have been so far been reported.
A French diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that the situation at the embassy was now under control.
It is unclear who orchestrated the attack but Information Minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou told state TV it had ‘strong overtones of terrorism’.
Heavy smoke was seen coming from the army joint chief of staff’s office in Ouagadougou. Witnesses said loud explosions were heard around the army headquarters.
Witnesses at the national television office which faces the French Embassy said that five people arrived in a pick-up truck in front of the embassy and started shooting after saying ‘Allahu Akhbar’. They then set fire to the truck before resuming their attack.
The French Embassy earlier said on Facebook that attacks were underway at the embassy and the French Institute, a cultural organization located about a mile away from the embassy.