Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) – Six terrorists who were involved in Sunday’s attack on the Ivorian town of Grand-Bassam, 40 km east of the main city of Abidjan, have been “neutralized”, the Ivorian Minister of the Interior and Security, Hamed Bakayoko, has said.
In a statement, Mr. Bakayoko said that three hotels were attacked in the town but through the immediate intervention of the Defence Forces and Ivorian security, six terrorists were “neutralized”.
He added that sweeps were underway and that a detailed report would be communicated in the coming hours.
Eyewitnesses say about a dozen people have been killed in the terrorist attack carried out by unidentified gunmen on the L’Etoile du Sud hotel popular with expatriates in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, according to a provisional death toll.
The interim report said 12 people including four Europeans were killed. Security forces have moved to the site. Eyewitnesses reported hearing heavy gunfire in the hotel and seeing people running in all directions.
Grand-Bassam is popular on weekends because of its beach.
The terrorist attack on Grand-Bassam follows similar attacks on hotels in two other West African cities – Bamako, the Malian capital last November, and Ouagadougou, the Burkina Faso capital, last January.
