Ouagadougou, January 18 (RHC)-- An attack by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants on a hotel in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, has come to an end with nearly 30 people, including 11 foreigners, dead.

The deadly assault started on Friday afternoon, when assailants stormed the 147-room Splendid Hotel, frequented with foreigners and United Nations staff in the heart of the city. The militants took over a hundred people hostage.

Over the weekend, Burkina Faso troops, backed by French forces based in the city, launched an operation to retake the hotel.

The militant attack, which also targeted a nearby restaurant in addition to the hotel, took 29 lives. Six Canadians, two French, two Swiss nationals as well as one American were among the dead.

Burkina Faso's President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a radio and television address that the country is in shock over the raid, adding: "For the first time in its history, our country has fallen victim to a series of barbaric terrorist attacks."