Al-Qaeda claims deadly attack at Ivory Coast beach resort

Al-Qaeda claims deadly attack at Ivory Coast beach resort

Heavily-armed men gunned down 16 people at an Ivory Coast resort Sunday in an attack claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, leaving bodies strewn on the beach as fears grow of a mounting jihadist threat in West Africa.

A witness in the resort town of Grand-Bassam told AFP they heard one of the assailants shouting "Allahu Akbar" — Arabic for "God is greatest". Fourteen civilians and two special forces troops were killed in the shooting spree targeting three hotels, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said. One French and one German national were among those killed, according to Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko.

SITE Intelligence Group, a US monitor, said Al-Qaeda's North African affiliate had claimed responsibility for the attack in the former French colonial capital, a resort popular with Western expatriates. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in a statement said three of its fighters had been killed, while Ouattara said six assailants were dead following what he condemned as a "terrorist" attack. "The toll is heavy," the Ivorian leader said as he arrived in Grand-Bassam, which lies on the Gulf of Guinea around 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the commercial hub Abidjan. French President Francois Hollande condemned the "cowardly attack" and offered support for the Ivorian government in finding the perpetrators
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