Ouagadougou Hostage Crisis

Date: January 16, 2016 • Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

After gunmen took hostages the previous night at a restaurant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, government commandos stormed the premises to bring the situation to an end.

Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It had a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies.