Al Qaeda’s North African affiliate claimed Sunday’s deadly attack by heavily armed gunmen on the Ivory Coast resort of Grand-Bassam, in which at least 16 people were killed, US-based monitors said.
In a message posted on its Telegram channels, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said three of its “heroes” had stormed the Grand-Bassam resort, according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
President Alassane Ouattara said six gunmen had been “neutralised”.
The strike, which targeted three hotels in the former French colonial capital that is popular with Western expatriates, also killed 14 civilians and two special forces troops, he said.
“By the grace of Allah and His granting of success, three heroes from the knights of Qaeda al-Jihad in the Islamic Maghreb were able to storm the tourist resort ‘Grand Bassam,’ situated east of the city of Abidjan, in Ivory Coast,” the SITE Intelligence Group quoted AQIM as saying.
One witness told AFP that they heard one of the assailants shouting “Allahu Akbar” – Arabic for “God is greatest”.
Eugène Kakou, a local journalist who was present at the scene, told FRANCE 24’s sister radio station RFI that he heard 20 to 30 gunshots. “Everyone started running, I hid first in the toilets, and heard bang, bang, bang (…). It wasn’t automatic gunfire, maybe pistols. When I left the toilets I saw a girl covered in blood. She said, ‘they killed my fiancé'”.
At least four foreigners are thought to have been killed in the attack, one of whom has been confirmed as holding French nationality.
The Grand-Bassam resort lies on the Gulf of Guinea around 40 kilometres east of the commercial hub Abidjan.
AFP
