AN ATTACK IN HOTEL IN BURKINAFASO

Soldiers are seen outside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, January 16, 2016, after security forces retook the hotel from al Qaeda fighters who seized it in an assault that killed two dozen people from at least 18 countries and marked a major escalation of Islamist militancy in West Africa. (REUTERS/Stringer)

The overnight seizure of a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso's capital by al-Qaida-linked extremists ended Saturday when Burkina Faso and French security forces killed four jihadist attackers and freed more than 126 people, the West African nation's president said.

At least 23 other people from up to 18 different countries were killed in the attack at the Splendid Hotel and nearby Cappuccino Cafe, establishments popular with westerners in Ouagadougou, the capital, he said. Three attackers were killed at the hotel and a fourth was killed when security forces cleared out a second hotel nearby. (Reuters)