Lebanese Ministry of Information
The body of Ahmad al-Balli, a Lebanese national killed in last week’s terror attack in Burkina Faso, arrived in Beirut Sunday. Representatives of premier Saad Hariri received the body at Rafik Hariri International Airport, the state-run National News Agency reported. Mourning residents of Balli’s native village of Aazqi al-Dinnieh, in Tripoli, were also at the airport.
The repatriation was arranged after Hariri dispatched a delegation, headed by Higher Defense Council Secretary-General Maj. Gen. Mohammad Kheir, to Burkina Faso in the wake of the attack.
While in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, Kheir talked with members of the Lebanese community and Burkinabé officials.
Kheir also praised the Lebanese community in Burkina Faso for “their distinguished, honorable presence there” and conveyed condolences to the families of the slain Lebanese nationals “on behalf of the prime minister and Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos.”
Cabinet Secretary-General Fouad Fleifel, also extended his condolences to the families of the victims, adding that “we salute the Lebanese Army, which is fighting to eradicate terrorism.”
The attack, which claimed the lives of 18 people, occurred when two gunmen stormed a Turkish restaurant and indiscriminately fired on its patrons. It is believed to have been carried out by Islamist extremists.
Two other Lebanese were also killed in the attack, Mohsen Fneish and his wife, Tamy Chin – who was pregnant at the time of her death – but their remains will be buried in Senegal in accordance with their families’ wishes.
