Terrorist groups - foreign based:
al-Mulathamun Battalion: aim(s): replace regional governments, including Burkina Faso's government, with an Islamic state area(s) of operation: engages in kidnappings for ransom and other violent activities across the country, including Ouagadougou; al-Mulathamun Battalion and AQIM operatives used gunfire and explosives on 15 January 2016 that killed 30 civilians from 18 countries and wounded approximately 70 people, resulting in operatives taking over 156 hostages in Ouagadougou at the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino Restaurant, popular sites for Westerners and French soldiers based in the region; marked the first major attack in a country that had been largely spared extremist violence; security forces rescued 156 of the hostages
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM): aim(s): replace the Burkina Faso Government with Sharia and, ultimately, create a regional Islamic caliphate across all of North and West Africa area(s) of operation: engages heavily in kidnappings for ransom and other violent activities across the country, primarily in the north; AQIM and al-Mulathamun Battalion operatives used gunfire and explosives on 15 January 2016 that killed 30 civilians from 18 countries and wounded approximately 70 people, resulting in operatives taking over 156 hostages in Ouagadougou at the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino Restaurant, popular sites for Westerners and French soldiers based in the region; marked the first major attack in a country that had been largely spared extremist violence; security forces rescued 156 of the hostages