Muslim Hate in Benin
Al-Qaeda affiliate claims deadly attack on Benin military
posts, killing 70 soldiers
April 20, 2025
Reuters
COTONOU, April 20 — Al-Qaeda affiliate
JNIM said it killed 70 soldiers in raids on two military posts in north Benin,
the biggest death count claimed by jihadists in the country in over a decade of
activity in West Africa, the SITE Intelligence Group said yesterday.
The West African state and its coastal
neighbour Togo have suffered a series of attacks in recent years as groups
linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda have expanded their presence beyond the
Sahel region to the north.
Reuters could not immediately confirm
the report independently.
Benin’s
army spokesman Ebenezer Honfoga did not respond to calls and messages.
SITE quoted a statement by
Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) on Thursday saying 70 soldiers
were killed in attacks on two military posts in Benin’s northeastern Kandi
province in the Alibori department, more than 500 km (300 miles) from the capital
Cotonou.
US group SITE tracks online content from militant groups.
The Sahel
insurgency took root after a Tuareg rebellion in north Mali in 2012 and spread
into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger before reaching the north of coastal
West African countries such as Benin more recently.
Thousands have been killed
and millions displaced by the conflict, which contributed to spurring five
military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger between 2020 and 2023.
Military
authorities cut ties with traditional Western allies such as France and the US
after the coups and turned to Russia to help in fighting jihadist activity. —
Reuters
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