Togo Reports 30 Deaths From 'Terrorist' Incidents This Year

By AFP - Agence France Presse
November 28, 2023

In a rare statement on security, Togo's government has reported that more than 30 people have been killed so far this year in "terrorist" attacks in the country's north.

Togo, Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast -- all neighbours in the Gulf of Guinea -- risk increasing spillover from jihadist conflicts from across borders with Niger and Burkina Faso.

Togolese Communication Minister Yawa Kouigan told state-run TVT late on Monday that 31 people had been killed, 29 injured and another three reported missing after "terrorist" incidents.

"Our country experienced an ambush, 11 clashes with armed terrorist groups, nine blasts from improvised explosive devices and 20 discoveries and neutralisation of improvised explosive devices," said the minister, who is also government spokesperson.

Kouigan said Togo's first "terrorist" attack took place in Sanloaga in the prefecture of Kpendjal in November 2021 and was followed by several incursions and incidents in the savannah region near the Burkina Faso border.

The northern border regions of Benin, Togo and Ghana are facing increasing threats of incursions from jihadist groups that operate in the Sahel and are seeking to move south.

France's military withdrawal from the Sahel has heightened concerns about security in Gulf of Guinea states.


Suspected terrorist explosion in northern Togo kills 7 children

Explosion may join list of terrorist attacks recently, and is second one to be deadly

Aurore Bonny   |10.07.2022
DOUALA, Cameroon
Anadolu Agency

Seven children were killed in a suspected terrorist explosion in northern Togo in the night from Saturday to Sunday, local media reported.

"A rescue team was immediately dispatched to the scene," said Motaog Radio and Television in Dapaong, the town where the explosion occurred.

The local radio quoted a victim's parent as saying he was shocked and that he heard "a loud explosion never heard before."

He discovered children's bodies lying on the ground which he said were difficult to identify.

No official source has yet commented on the incident.

The incident may join a list of terrorist attacks seen in recent months in the West African country, which had previously been spared.

On June 16, an attack was foiled in the Gnoaga and Gouloungoushi townships, on the border shared by Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso in the far north.

An attack on the night of May 10 left eight soldiers dead and 13 wounded. An Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group claimed responsibility for it three weeks later, according to the Site Intelligence Group, an American NGO which tracks extremist threats online.

"Once these attacks start, they don't stop," Joseph Mensah-Boboe, the publisher of online media outlet Imagine Demain, told Anadolu Agency. "This is a new terrorist action despite the strong security method of the government, which has established a state of emergency and its corollaries. This situation is worrying."


Violent clashes in northern Togo after imam is arrested

By AFP
Added 17th October 2017 01:02 PM

Togo's security minister, Col. Yark Damehame, told the local Radio Victoire that the arrest of Alassane, who is close to the Panafrican National Party (PNP), was justified.

Violence broke out in Togo's second city, Sokode, after the arrest of an imam close to the country's main opposition, fuelling tensions after weeks of anti-government protests.

"Electricity was cut off at about 7:00pm after evening prayers," said Ouro Akpo Tchagnaou, from the main opposition National Alliance for Change (ANC).

"Five police vehicles arrived to arrest Alpha Alassane, a very well-known imam in the city," he added. "The population felt targeted and took to the streets."

Clashes lasted throughout the night until calm was restored but the authorities have been warned of renewed protests if Alassane is not freed on Tuesday morning.

"The situation was hard to put up with last night. The security forces and youths clashed in several parts of the city, with teargas and stone-throwing," one local told AFP.

"There were burning tyres, barricades erected and buildings were looted," added ANC spokesman Eric Dupuy.

"Homes were set on fire as well as a bank and premises belonging to (telephone company) TogoCell."

"We know there were deaths and injuries but I can't give you a toll at this time. We are still gathering details."

Togo's security minister, Col. Yark Damehame, told the local Radio Victoire that the arrest of Alassane, who is close to the Panafrican National Party (PNP), was justified.

"In his sermons he has been calling for violence and hatred...  The last straw was last Friday when he called on his followers to kill soldiers," he said.

Alassane has long been a dissenting voice in Togo, but his arrest comes at a time of heightened political tension in Togo in recent months.

He has allied himself with the PNP of Tikpi Atchadam, who has spearheaded protests against President Faure Gnassingbe that have mobilised hundreds of thousands across the country.

The PNP and 13 other opposition parties are calling for political change in Togo to end the 50-year rule of the Gnassingbe family.

They want a limit on the number of presidential mandates to two -- in line with practice elsewhere in west Africa -- and the introduction of a two-round voting system.

The opposition parties have vowed to defy a government ban on midweek protests by marching in the capital Lome on Wednesday and Thursday.

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