2016 Ouagadougou attacks Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Background == Following the [[Libyan Civil War (2011)|Libyan Civil War]], neighboring Mali was wracked by instability, including [[Islamist]] attacks, in the [[Northern Mali conflict]]. Neighboring countries also experienced a [[Boko Haram]] insurgency. In Burkina Faso, the [[2014 Burkinabé uprising]] ousted President [[Blaise Compaoré]], while the consequent [[2015 Burkinabe coup d'état]], in relation to the electoral process, was eventually put down under pressure from the [[African Union]]. The [[2015 Burkinabé general election|November 2015 general election]] resulted in [[Roch Marc Christian Kaboré]] becoming [[president of Burkina Faso]]. Burkina Faso is part of the [[G5 Sahel]] countries formed to counter insurgent attacks.<ref name="ht"/> The [[Splendid Hotel]] was sometimes used by French troops who were part of the Chad-based [[Operation Barkhane]].<ref name="et">{{Cite web |title=At least 20 dead in Burkina Faso hotel attack |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-tv/at-least-20-dead-in-burkina-faso-hotel-attack/videoshow/50602270.cms |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=The Economic Times |language=en |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422132654/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-tv/at-least-20-dead-in-burkina-faso-hotel-attack/videoshow/50602270.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The United States had approximately 75 military personnel in the country, including 15 assigned to the embassy and about 60 who provide "security assistance" – training, advising and assisting.<ref name="wdsu"/> Earlier in the day, at about 14:00 local time, approximately 20 "heavily-armed unidentified individuals" attacked [[gendarmerie]] in the village of Tin Abao, near the border with Mali, according to the army.<ref name="ht"/> The Security Ministry's Spokeswoman Abi Ouattara also announced that an Austrian couple were kidnapped in the night in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali in the [[Baraboulé Department|Baraboulé]] area's<ref name="tele"/> village of Djibo.<ref name="cnn"/> Austrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Thomas Schnoell added that more information was not known but they were "looking into the matter as quickly as possible."<ref name="tele"/> However, the couple were later said to be Australian.<ref name="bbc16"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page