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A pregnant Cambridge University PhD student and her husband have been killed in a terror attack in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Gonville and Caius student Tammy Chen and her husband Mehsen Fenaiche were two of at least 18 people killed when a restaurant popular with tourists was attacked in capital city Ouagadougou on Sunday (August 13).

A former school teacher from Toronto, Canada, Ms Chen and Mr Fenaiche got married last month and she was expecting a baby.

The suspected Islamist militant gunmen arrived at the packed Turkish restaurant on motorbikes at around 9pm and opened fired on the crowd of diners.

It took over seven hours for the country’s special forces to halt the attack, leaving the two assailants dead.

There has so far been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Ms Chen was finishing a PhD in International Development focusing on poverty, gender and women's empowerment.

Gonville and Caius college released a statement this morning, saying "the Master of Caius, Professor Sir Alan Fersht, and the entire Caius community are shocked and devastated at the news, and send deepest sympathy to Tammy's family and many friends".

The college flag is flying at half mast today (August 15) to mark her death.

Professor Fersht has paid tribute to her as "an exceptional woman, very active in the Caius graduate community and passionate about her research and helping people. She had so much to offer the world and it is a tragedy for her to be lost so young".

From 2011, Tammy co-founded and ran a Canadian registered charity called Bright Futures of Burkina Faso, which sought to extend both education and microcredits to women in some of the poorest parts of the world.

During her time at Caius, she gave a memorable and inspiring talk to graduates and Fellows on how the shea butter industry was empowering women in Burkina Faso.

Caius MCR President Hugo Larose said: "I was devastated to hear about Tammy's loss.

"All of Tammy's friends echo that she was extraordinarily kind and caring, that she was the sort of person that the world sorely needs in times such as these, who would have made a real difference in this world, and whose loss will be sorely felt.

"Though many academics dedicate their life to improving the human condition, Tammy went many steps further, working tirelessly in the some of the poorest parts of the world.

"She was the heart and soul of our MCR during her years in Cambridge, and had many close friends here at Caius. We are all in shock."

A new Caius studentship will be launched to honour Tammy Chen's memory.