23 killed in attack on Burkina Faso hotel

A siege at a Burkina Faso hotel seized by suspected Islamist militants claimed at least 23 people of 18 different nationalities, the authorities say. The assault on the Splendid Hotel in the West African state's capital, Ouagadougou, was made by four attackers who were killed. Two of them were women, officials said. The Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) militant group has announced that it carried out the attack. Bukinabe President Roch Kabore arrived at the scene on Saturday morning amid tight security. French President Francois Hollande condemned the "odious" attack on the capital of the former French colony. French troops helped their Burkinabe colleagues during the security operation. In November last, an AQIM attack on a hotel in the Malian capital Bamako left 19 people dead.