2016 Ouagadougou attacks

On the evening of 15 January 2016, six or seven armed attackers arrived in four-wheel-drive vehicles in central Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and burned several vehicles before attacking the Cappuccino restaurant, which was hosting about 100 guests. The attackers then moved into the nearby Splendid Hotel, a 147-room four-star hotel on Avenue Kwame Nkrumah frequented by businesspeople and foreigners, where a large dinner event was underway. Some attackers had reportedly mingled with guests earlier in the day before others joined after nightfall. Security forces, supported by French and U.S. military personnel, launched a counter-attack beginning around 01:00 the following morning, using explosives to breach the hotel. Intense gunfire was reported for roughly 40 minutes, and the siege at the Splendid Hotel ended the next morning with the release of 176 hostages, nearly half of whom had been injured. Following this, the nearby Yibi hotel came under attack; government forces entered on foot around 07:30 and killed a further attacker who had sought refuge there.

At least 30 people were killed in the attacks, including three attackers at the Splendid Hotel and one at the Yibi hotel, with at least 56 others wounded. Victims were reported to include citizens of Burkina Faso, Canada, Ukraine, Switzerland, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Libya, and the United States. Among those killed were two former Swiss parliamentarians, Georgie Lamon and Jean-Noël Rey, who had been visiting a school linked to an association they belonged to. A French-Moroccan photographer working on assignment for Amnesty International died in hospital three days after being shot multiple times during the attack. Survivors and hospital staff reported that some attackers appeared to single out white victims during the assault.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which described the assault as revenge against France and Western nations, and stated that the attackers belonged to the Mali-based Al-Mourabitoun group. Burkinabé officials later reported that at least two of the four attackers found dead were women, and that the bodies recovered were of "very young" individuals no older than 26. As of 22 January 2016, three of the six attackers were reported to still be at large.

The attacks occurred against a backdrop of regional instability, including the Northern Mali conflict following the Libyan Civil War, the Boko Haram insurgency, and Burkina Faso's own recent political upheaval, including the 2014 Burkinabé uprising and 2015 coup attempt. The Splendid Hotel was known to be used at times by French troops linked to the regional counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane. Burkinabé President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré convened an emergency cabinet meeting, visited the site, and declared 72 hours of national mourning. International leaders, including French President François Hollande and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Burkina Faso.