Seven years on, Ivorian beach resort of Grand-Bassam still scarred by deadly attack

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Grand-Bassam is home to a huge beach on the Atlantic Ocean that's highly popular with tourists – expats and Ivorians alike. On that fateful day in 2016, three assailants armed with Kalashnikovs opened fire on the beach, then on hotels along the coast. The horror went on for 45 minutes before the gunmen were finally shot dead by Ivorian special forces.

The attack was claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). A few months earlier, Ivory Coast had arrested jihadists from the group and handed them over to Mali. The Grand-Bassam attack was likelypayback for the country's cooperation with France in anti-jihadist operations in the wider Sahel region.

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