Burkina Faso authorities arrest 8 after jihadist attacks

OUAGADOGOU, Burkina Faso – Authorities in Burkina Faso say they have arrested eight Burkinabe nationals in connection with last week’s attacks on army headquarters and the French Embassy.

Prosecutor Maizan Sereme announced Tuesday that two of the suspects are current soldiers. Another is a former soldier who was kicked out of the military after a 2011 mutiny.

Officials have said that eight assailants were killed during the violence Friday in the capital, Ouagadougou, four attackers at each location.

Others suspect there was inside help because the jihadists attacked a room where top army officials were to have been at the time. Instead, their meeting location had been changed at the last minute, preventing a more serious loss of lives of top officers.