AQIM Attack on Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou — 30 Killed

Al-Mourabitoun and AQIM gunmen attack the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino café in central Ouagadougou, killing 30 people including many foreigners. It is Burkina Faso's deadliest terrorist attack to that point, signaling the southward expansion of Sahel jihadism beyond Mali's borders. The attack precedes JNIM's formal founding by 14 months.