Authorities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso have rescued 126 hostages who were taken during a siege at a luxury hotel popular with foreigners in the country's capital. Survivors have described terrifying scenes as they tried to escape during Al Qaeda's first major attack in the former French colony.
Burkina Faso's forces, with logistical support from American and French troops, circled the hotel for hours before they started rescuing hostages. Commandos used explosives to enter the building, accidentally setting fire to the hotel in the ensuing chaos.
This survivor says the gunmen set cars on fire and used gunfire to force people to flee.
"Everything caught fire. We fled in cars that were also on fire. We had to crawl to escape. Some people were shot. There was someone in front of me, they shot him and he fell onto me."
After hours of intermittent gunfire, Burkina Faso's interior ministry declared their military operation over, with 126 people freed and four militants dead.
Officials are still determining the exact number of casualties at least 22 at last count. Ten bodies were retrieved from a cafe near the Splendid Hotel.
Survivor Yannick Sawadogo says he made his escape through a broken window.
"It was horrible everyone was panicking. People were lying on the ground and there was blood everywhere. They were shooting people at point blank range. When they left, they set fire to the place. The smoke started to suffocate me and other survivors. We started to move towards the door. And then I realised I saw nobody outside. I got out through a broken window."
A group calling itself Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the assault, saying in an online message that the attack is "revenge against France and the disbelieving West".
The attack had similarities to a November attack in neighbouring Mali when gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel taking 170 people hostage, and killing 19 people.
Western nations, particularly France, considers Burkina Faso a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda.
French President Francois Hollande said he stands with the nation, condemning the attack as "odious and cowardly".
The US Embassy also condemned the attack, calling it a " senseless assault on innocent people".
The assault also comes a few months after Burkina Faso elected a new president, following a coup last year.
Cynthia Ohayon, from the International Crisis Group, told the BBC, the timing of the attack could have been predicted.
"You know it is an unprecedented attack in the history of the attack, but there has been smaller scale attacks by the border. The country has very long border with Mali and Niger - and there are such groups that are present at the border of these countries so I think was probably something we had coming."
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