An incursion by jihadists on Beninese army positions in the north of the country on Wednesday left some 30 soldiers dead, APA can report.
“We have just suffered a very heavy loss,” said Colonel Faizou Gomina, chief of staff of the National Guard, in a statement released a day after the attack.
Benin, a small West African country facing a resurgence in jihadist attacks, lost 28 soldiers on Wednesday in
Banikoara, a town on the border between Niger and Burkina Faso, an area also nicknamed “triple point” by security sources.
The same day, a military source told AFP that the Beninese army had neutralised “40 attackers” during the incursion.
Since 2021, the country has lost “121 soldiers” in attacks carried out by armed jihadist groups, according to a diplomatic source.
These attacks, on the rise in northern Benin, are blamed on fighters linked to the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda, active in neighbouring countries.
The border region with Burkina Faso remains the epicenter of these deadly incursions.
To counter this threat, Benin, under the presidency of Patrice Talon, deployed nearly 3,000 soldiers in January 2022 as part of Operation Mirador, aimed at securing its borders.
The authorities have also recruited 5,000 additional soldiers to reinforce troop numbers in the north of the country.
“The position attacked yesterday (Wednesday) was one of the strongest and most militarised in Operation Mirador with numerous collective weapons, observation drones and had an internet device to quickly report any malicious situation,” recalled Colonel Gomina.
However, he stressed that “equipment alone is not enough to win” the fight against jihadist groups.
Highlighting the importance of operational efficiency and the quality of human resources at the army’s disposal, the officer urged his troops to remobilise in the face of the upcoming clashes with the insurgents.
“We have received a very hard blow, but we will not give in,” he vowed.
ODL/Sf/te/fss/as/APA