17 people killed and 8 wounded in a "terrorist attack" in Burkina Faso

Seventeen people have been killed and eight wounded in a "terrorist attack" in the centre of the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.

Witnesses were quoted as saying that three gunmen opened fire on customers seated outside a restaurant. According to Communication Minister Remis Dandjinou, Security forces killed three of the attackers, but some people are still trapped in the building.

There are fears that the attack is the work of one of the affiliates of al-Qaeda that are active in the Sahel region, but Dandjinou said it was unclear how many assailants had been involved. "They are confined to one part of the building they attacked. Security and elite forces are conducting an operation," he said on television.

The shooting began at night on Sunday on Ouagadougou's busy Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.