It is the deadliest attack that the Beninese army has ever suffered since Sahelian jihadist groups targeted its territory. On Wednesday January 8, at least 28 soldiers were killed in the north of the country. “The attack took place around 7 p.m. at the “triple point”, the border area between Benin, Niger and Burkina, explains a military source who requested anonymity. It occurred inside the W park, about sixty kilometers from the position I occupied. About thirty of our men died. » According to her, around 70 attackers were also killed in the fighting.
In a letter addressed the next day to the defense and security forces, relayed by several Beninese media, Colonel Faïzou Gomina, the chief of staff of the national guard, expressed his condolences and recognized “a very heavy loss. » “We have received a very hard blow but we are not going to give in”, he added. The attack has not been claimed, but the Beninese security services favor the trail of Ansaroul Islam, a Burkinabé jihadist group linked to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the movement of Al- Qaeda in the Sahel. His clashes with the Beninese army are recurrent in the W Park, a nature reserve of approximately 10,000 km² which owes its name to the meanders drawn by the Niger River and extends over the territories of Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso.
You have 70.59% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Related News :