Benin’s military clashed with armed groups in the country’s north over the past week, leaving ten people dead, including one soldier, as security concerns grow in the region, sources told AFP.
While Benin’s southern economic capital, Cotonou, remains a hub for international tourists, the northern part of the country has experienced increasing attacks in recent years.
Authorities frequently attribute these incidents to terror groups attempting to expand their influence from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
On Thursday night into Friday, the army launched an “offensive operation” that resulted in the deaths of nine gunmen, a source close to the military high command reported.
According to local sources, the operation took place in the commune of Karimama, following an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in nearby Kantoro, which killed one soldier and injured two others. Both communities are near the Niger border, an area that has recently seen a surge in violence.
For years, armed insurgencies in Burkina Faso and Niger have allowed extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to seize rural territories, exploiting ethnic tensions, political instability, and weak state presence.
Benin has seen a spillover of violence, with attacks in the north becoming more frequent.
In February, six Beninese soldiers were killed by unidentified gunmen, prompting the army to retaliate, killing 17 assailants. A month earlier, 28 soldiers were killed in an attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
A diplomatic source told AFP that 121 Beninese military personnel had been killed between 2021 and December 2024.
In January 2022, Benin deployed nearly 3,000 troops under “Operation Mirador” to strengthen border security. Authorities also recruited 5,000 additional personnel to bolster defences in the north.
On Thursday, the United States and Benin signed a bilateral cooperation agreement to “strengthen collaboration between the Beninese Armed Forces (FAB) and the US Army,” according to the US embassy.
Despite military efforts, some researchers argue that force-heavy responses have not addressed the deeper political issues that extremist groups exploit to recruit fighters and expand their influence.
