GRAND BASSAM (Reuters): At least 16 people were killed when gunmen from al Qaeda’s North African branch attacked a beach resort town in Ivory Coast on Sunday, sources reported Monday.
“The deceased include four Europeans,” sources said.
According to security officials, six shooters targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces.
“Six attackers came onto the beach in Bassam this afternoon,” Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said during a visit to the site. “We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed.”
Officials from French foreign ministry claimed a French man was also killed in the attack.
“The nationalities of the other dead were not yet known, but four were European,” one officer told Reuters.
Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko later said foreign citizens from France, Germany, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon were among the victims.
Witnesses said the gunmen followed a pathway onto the beach where they then opened fire on swimmers and sunbathers before turning their attention to the packed seafront hotels where people were eating and drinking at lunchtime.
