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| Al-Qaeda militants attacked the Splendid Hotel in the West African state's capital, Ouagadougou, as well as a cafe and another hotel nearby REUTERS |
Burkina Faso's Minister of Security and Internal Affairs Simon Compaore said an Australian doctor and his wife were abducted in Djibo, the capital of the northern Soum province.
A journalist in the region said the couple has lived there since 1972, volunteering in health services.
Earlier, the Burkina Faso government had mistakenly said the couple were Austrian.
An attack on the Splendid Hotel and the Cappuccino Cafe on Friday night left 27 people dead, including four jihadists, while 126 people were freed after a gunfight between the al Qaeda-linked fighters and soldiers.
Security forces stormed the building on Saturday morning, more than five hours after the siege began.
Three extremists were killed at the hotel and a fourth was killed when security forces cleared out a second hotel nearby. Two of the four were women, Burkina Faso's president said.
A fire also broke out in the hall of the hotel, in Ouagadougou's business district, and the flames then began spreading inside and out.
Gunfire ramped up early Saturday as gendarme and military forces fought to take back the building which had been blackened by a fire during the assault.
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| Soldiers are seen outside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou. REUTERS |
About 33 people were wounded in the attack, in which cars and motorbikes were burned, and overturned chairs and shards of glass lay scattered near the hotel. Onlookers were kept far away from the fighting that continued into daylight.
The upscale hotel and cafe is popular with Westerners and United Nations officials.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the SITE Intel Group cited al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which claimed credit for the attack.
"There are many hostages from many nationalities in the hotel," Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said on France24.
The attack "is reminiscent of a terrorist attack and jihadists" and follows an assault earlier in the day near the border with Mali and Niger that left at least two dead, he added.
The US Embassy in Ouagadougou said it is "closely following the situation downtown," while France Info reported that an Air France flight coming from Paris was diverted to neighbouring Niger.
"It is continuing at this time. We are trying to know how many attackers they are to better coordinate our actions," said a senior official with the national gendarmes who asked not to be named. "Hostages have been taken. The operation could take several hours."
A witness says he saw gunmen emerge from the hotel and fire into the air. A vehicle carrying security personnel arrived and shortly afterward an intense gun battle began.
"We had just opened and there were a few customers we started to serve when we heard gunshots ... There were three men shooting in the air," said Vital Nounayon, a waiter at a restaurant across the street from the hotel.
"Lots of people left their cars and motorcycles and ran. They [attackers] set fire to the vehicles. They also fired on the Capuccino Restaurant across from the hotel before setting it on fire," he said, adding that the attackers wore turbans.
Amateur video footage showed a burning car on an empty street in front of the hotel. Gunfire and explosions could be heard.
- AP
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