Troops in the Benin Republic clashed with armed men suspected of being terrorists near the country’s northern border with Burkina Faso, killing four attackers, according to the army.
Insurgents across their northern borders pose a growing threat to the Gulf of Guinea states of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
According to the army, a dozen armed men attacked a military post near the border in Kaobagou early Friday, but troops resisted and pushed them back in a counter-offensive.
“After fleeing, the enemy left behind four bodies, and a large amount of weapons and ammunition,” the army’s statement said.
The axis is has also witnessed a rise in smuggling gangs and cross-border crimes. Benin forces say they have faced more than 20 invasions since 2021 while neighbouring Togo has suffered at least five attacks within the same time.
The insurgency which started in Mali in 2012 has since spread to Burkina Faso and Niger.
The affected states met in Ghana’s capital Accra earlier this week to deliberate on strengthening cooperation with European partners to contain the spillover from conflicts in Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
Thousands of people have been killed across the Sahel and more than two million persons have been displaced with devastating destruction inflicted on hapless members of mostly agrarian or trading communities.