Ivory Coast: al-Qaeda-linked extremists kill 16 in beach resort attack

Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) has become the latest target of a terrorist attack in West Africa claimed by Islamist extremists – linked to al-Qaeda.

Armed men attacked an Ivory Coast beach resort Sunday, killing at least 16 people in an attack claimed by al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch.

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara told reporters at the scene that 14 civilians, 2 special forces and 6 assailants were killed when the gunmen stormed the beach. The president arrived in Grand-Bassam a few hours after the attack, visiting the hotels and saluting security forces for their quick response.

“I present my condolences to the families of the people who were murdered, and of course I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast,” Ouattara said outside the Etoile du Sud, one of the targeted hotels. “The toll could have been much heavier.”

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist websites. The Islamic extremist group made the declaration in a post to its Telegram channels, calling 3 of the attackers “heroes” for the assault.

The bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand-Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular destination for Ivorians about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial center.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit by jihadists as well.

The West African attacks indicate that extremist violence is spreading from North Africa, where a beach attack in June killed 38 people in Tunisia.

“I have always said that the Ivory Coast and Senegal are the next targets for jihadist groups” said Lemine Ould M. Salem, an expert on al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and author of a book “The Bin Laden of the Sahara.”

The member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have strongly condemned the attack in Grand-Bassam.