Benin attack: Army suffers heavy losses in Niger

Benin forces have suffered heavy losses in an attack near the border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso, officials said.

Colonel Faizou Gomina, chief of staff of the National Guard, said one of Benin’s best-equipped military positions had been attacked in the north on Wednesday night.

“We have received a very hard blow,” added Colonel Gomina.

In recent years, the country has witnessed an increase in attacks in the northern region, attributed to jihadist groups based in neighboring countries.

More than 120 Beninese soldiers were killed between 2021 and December 2024, a diplomatic source told the AFP news agency.

Last month, gunmen killed three soldiers and wounded four others guarding an oil pipeline in the northeast.

Colonel Gomina did not provide a death toll from Wednesday’s attack, but the main opposition party, The Democrats, said about 30 soldiers had been killed in the Alibori region, the Reuters news agency reports.

A security source puts the death toll at 28, according to AFP.

“We continue the clearing operations. So far, forty aggressors have been neutralized,” added the military source.

Colonel Gomina stated that the attacked position was “one of the strongest and most militarized” and called on military commanders to improve their operational strategies to counter security threats.

“Wake up, officers and section chiefs, we have battles to win,” he said.

In 2022, Benin deployed almost 3,000 soldiers to stop cross-border incursions and strengthen security in the north.