Ivory Coast: the trial of the terrorist attack in Grand Bassam opens

The attack mainly targeted hotels in Grand Bassam.

Here, the entrance to the Étoile du Sud protected by security forces after the attack, March 15, 2016. © Carley Petesch / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mins

The trial of the accused in the Grand Bassam attack opens on Wednesday, November 30 at the criminal court in Abidjan.

The facts date back to March 13, 2016, when 19 people and 3 soldiers lost their lives in a shooting that occurred in this seaside resort located about forty kilometers east of the Ivorian capital.

At the time, this attack had been claimed by the terrorists of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi).

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It was a calm Sunday, on the beach of Grand Bassam, when suddenly, around 12:30 p.m.,

and opened fire on hundreds of people.

There were people from Abidjan, used to spending their weekends in Grand Bassam, but also tourists.

In total, there are 19 dead, 33 people injured and three soldiers fallen during this operation, reports our correspondent in Abdijan,

.

The investigation

makes it possible to arrest four people: the driver who conveyed the weapons, a man who scouted the premises and two people who hosted the terrorist commando.

Among the other suspects is Mimi Ould Baba, presented by the Ivorian justice as the sponsor of this attack: the latter is

.

There is also Fawaz Ould Check, alias "

", sentenced in Mali for the attack on the bar-restaurant La Terrasse.

And then there is also Kounta Dallah, presented as one of the masterminds of the attack, still on the run in the Sahel.

In all, justice charged 18 people with " 

 ", " 

 " and " 

 ".

Not everyone will be present in the accused box this Wednesday.

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First terrorist attack in the history of Côte d'Ivoire

Before these three assailants attacked the popular beach and fired on the crowd killing 19 people on March 13, 2016, Côte d'Ivoire had known for months that it was in the sights of the jihadists: two months earlier, a terrorist attack had killed 30 people. in Ouagadougou.

Abidjan was then under high security, but the Islamists struck elsewhere: 40 km from the capital.

Around 12:30 p.m., at lunchtime on this sunny Sunday, friends and families from the Ivorian wealthy middle class and the French expatriate community enjoy the seaside town, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Suddenly, according to the witnesses, three men arrive by sea aboard a pinnace - a makeshift boat serving as a collective taxi.

They land and fire AK-47s at anything they come across.

Among the crowd, it is first stupor, some do not flee believing they hear firecrackers, then it is the rescue who can, and finally the carnage.

The terrorists are unleashed on hotel guests and passers-by, whom they kill one by one. They go from one establishment to another: the Hôtel du Sud - closer to the sea -, the Corail Beach and the Paillotte , both side by side a little further.

The bloodbath lasts at least 45 minutes, before the arrival of the Ivorian special forces.

These are now criticized for their too slow reaction.

They are supported by armored vehicles, vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns, and traditional Ozo fighters.

They install their shields and shoot at the Islamists, the shooting is brief but violent: the three terrorists and three soldiers are killed.

Among the 19 people killed were nine Ivorians, four French, one Lebanese, one German, one Macedonian, one Malian, one Nigerian and one unidentified person.

33 others are injured.

Among the survivors of this attack: Patrick Colin, a 64-year-old French expatriate in Grand-Bassam and who is at the head of the seaside establishment “ 

 ”.

He was in the front row when the terrorists opened fire.

Patrick Colin, French witness, recounts the Grand Bassam attack

Clementine Pawlotsky

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• Ivory Coast

• Terrorism

• Justice

• AQIM