Page 8 The Skanner March 16, 2016
News
Ivory Coast: Extremists Kill 19 Civilians, 2 Special Forces
By Robbie Corey-Boulet
Associated Press
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivo-
ry Coast — Armed men
attacked an Ivory Coast
beach resort Sunday,
killing at least 19 people
and sending tourists flee-
ing through the historic
town of Grand-Bassam
in an attack claimed by
al-Qaida’s North Africa
branch.
Bloody bodies were
sprawled on the beach
and witnesses described
horrific scenes as a lazy
weekend afternoon was
shattered by the West
Africa’s latest extremist
strike.
Ivory Coast’s President
Alassane Ouattara told
reporters at the scene
that 14 civilians, two spe-
cial forces and six assail-
ants were killed when
the gunmen stormed the
beach.
The president arrived
in Grand-Bassam a few
hours after the attack,
visiting the hotels and sa-
luting security forces for
their quick response.
“I present my condo-
lences to the families
of the people who were
murdered, and of course
I am very proud of our
security forces who re-
acted so fast,” Ouattara
said outside the Etoile du
Sud, one of the targeted
hotels. “The toll could’ve
been much heavier.”
Al-Qaida in the Islam-
ic Maghreb claimed
responsibility for the
attack, according to
SITE Intelligence Group
which monitors jihadist
websites. The Islamic ex-
tremist group made the
“
djan, Ivory Coast’s com-
mercial center. It was the
third major attack on a
tourism center in West
Africa since November.
Some witnesses said
the assailants fired at
random, while others
said the killing was more
targeted. Witness Mar-
cel Guy said that gunmen
raced across the beach
in small groups, toting
Kalashnikov rifles and
hunting for victims.
One gunman, who had
a long beard, approached
ies sprawled out on the
beach in front of a small
resort next to the Etoile
du Sud hotel, which is
popular with foreigners.
Jacques Able, who iden-
tified himself as the own-
er of Etoile du Sud, said
he rushed to the hotel
after getting a phone call.
He said one person had
been killed at the hotel.
A receptionist at the
Etoile du Sud described
the mayhem.
“We don’t know where
they came from, and
I have always said that Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
and Dakar (Senegal) are the next targets for
jihadist groups because these two countries
represent windows of France in Africa
declaration in a post to
its Telegram channels,
calling three of the at-
tackers “heroes” for the
assault.
The bursts of gun-
fire sent people run-
ning from the beach at
Grand-Bassam, a UNES-
CO World Heritage site
and popular destination
for Ivorians and foreign-
ers about 40 kilometers
(25 miles) east of Abi-
two children on the
beach and Guy said he
heard the man speak-
ing Arabic. One of the
children then knelt and
started praying. He was
spared, while the other
boy was not.
“The Christian boy was
shot and killed right in
front of my eyes,” Guy
said.
An Associated Press
reporter saw four bod-
We honor the many
accomplishments of
African Americans.
we don’t know where
they’ve gone,” said the
receptionist, who would
not give his name.
Beachgoers could be
seen lining up with their
hands above their heads
as they filed out of the
area. Residents who
heard the gunfire hid in
their homes, said Josiane
Sekongo, 25, who lives
across from one of the
town’s beachfront hotels.
An American embas-
sy delegation was in
Grand-Bassam on Sun-
day, but the U.S. Embas-
sy in Abidjan said it was
monitoring the situation
and had no evidence U.S.
citizens were targeted or
harmed.
Dozens of people were
AP PHOTO/CHRISTIN ROBY
Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the attack
Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara, center, visits the area
were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March
13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three
hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special
forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast
resort town.
killed in the earlier at-
tacks on West African
tourist sites, starting
with a siege at a Malian
hotel in November and
then an assault on a ho-
tel 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.
All three West African
countries are former
French colonies and at
least one of those killed
in Grand-Bassam Sunday
was French. The Paris
prosecutor’s office has
opened an investigation
into the attack, calling
it murder in connection
with a terrorist enter-
prise. Anti-terrorism in-
vestigators will handle
the probe because there
was a French victim.
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
Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
and Dakar (Senegal) are
the next targets for jihad-
ist groups because these
two countries represent
windows of France in Af-
rica,” said Lemine Ould
M. Salem, an expert on
al-Qaida in the Islamic
Maghreb and author of
a book “The Bin Laden of
the Sahara.”
The United States
strongly condemned the
attack in Grand-Bassam,
sending “thoughts and
prayers to all affected."
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