BURKINA Faso has begun three days of national mourning after al-Qaeda fighters in a vehicle from neighbouring Niger Republic killed at least 28 people in an attack on a hotel and cafe popular with foreigners.

Mr Valls said six individuals opened fire on customers at the Cappuccino cafe in the capital, Ouagadougou, before taking hostages across the road at the Splendid hotel.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility, saying the unprovoked attack was meant to "punish the Cross-worshippers for their crimes against our people in Central Africa, Mali and other lands of the Muslims".

"There is a very strong political will on the part of the two states to combine our efforts to fight terrorism", said Burkina Faso's prime minister, Paul Kaba Thieba.

It was AQIM's first attack in Burkina Faso.

Reuters reports that AQIM named the three attackers as al-Battar al-Ansari, Abu Muhammad al-Buqali al-Ansari and Ahmed al-Fulani al-Ansari, according to SITE Intelligence group. The attackers then ambushed the Splendid Hotel next door. RCMP officers have been dispatched to Burkina Faso to help local authorities after more than two dozen people - including six Canadians - were killed in a terrorist attack.

AQIM said the assault was carried out by the al-Murabitoun battalion led by Algerian jihadi Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

The authorities in Burkina Faso say the bodies of three assailants have now been identified. In the end, none of the 30 people who were killed were at the hotel. "There are also five American FBI agents", Burkina Security Minister Simon Compaore said.

"That's why Canada remains committed to the coalition against terrorists and to working with other countries on a humanitarian basis and in order to help refugees but also to show military commitment", he said.

The elite presidential guard unit, which had a well-equipped and trained anti-terror squad, was disbanded after a coup attempt it staged in September.

A wounded man receives medical care outside the Splendid hotel during an attack on both the hotel and a restaurant by Al-Qaeda linked gunmen late on January 15, 2016 in Ouagadougou.

This time the target was Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, a largely peaceful West African country that every two years hosts the continent's biggest film festival.