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18:49, 02-Mar-2018
Explosions, gunfire rock Burkina Faso’s army headquarters, French embassy
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Gunfire and an explosions rocked Burkina Faso's army headquarters and the French embassy in the capital Ouagadougou on Friday and black smoke could be seen billowing above, Reuters reported.
Witnesses said they heard gunfire before an explosion and that the building at the army headquarters was on fire.
They said five armed men got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading towards the French embassy.
Black smoke rises as the capital of Burkina Faso came under multiple attacks on March 2, 2018. / VCG Photo
Black smoke rises as the capital of Burkina Faso came under multiple attacks on March 2, 2018. / VCG Photo
Four attackers were killed, the government said in a statement posted on the government's Information Service website around two hours after the attack.
Reports said the French cultural center was also under attack.
Special units of the defense and security forces have been deployed at the scene and no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"Attack under way at the French Embassy and French Institute. Stay hidden where you are," the embassy said in a statement posted on its Facebook site.
France's ambassador to West Africa's Sahel region called the explosion a “terrorist attack.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron is being kept up to date with the events in Ouagadougou, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
The US Embassy in Burkina Faso warned its citizens to avoid downtown Ougadougou in a tweet, after reports of gunfire in the area.
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