Al Qaeda affiliate claims to have killed 70 troops in Benin according to SITE

The SITE Intelligence Group stated on Saturday that JNIM, an affiliate of al Qaeda, murdered 70 soldiers in raids on two military bases in north Benin, the most number of jihadists in the country have claimed in more than ten years of activity in West Africa.

As organizations associated with al Qaeda and Islamic State have extended their reach northward beyond the Sahel, the West African state and its coastal neighbor Togo have been the target of numerous attacks in recent years.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the report right away.
Ebenezer Honfoga, the spokesman for the Benin army, did not answer calls or texts.

More than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the capital Cotonou, in the Alibori department of Benin’s northeastern Kandi province, two military stations were attacked, killing 70 troops, according to a statement released by Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) on Thursday, which SITE cited.

SITE, a U.S. organization, monitors militant groups’ web content.

Following a Tuareg uprising in northern Mali in 2012, the Sahel insurgency gained traction and then extended into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger before more recently making its way to the north of coastal West African nations like Benin.

Five military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2020 and 2023 were sparked by the violence, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and millions of displaced people.

Following the coups, military leaders looked to Russia for assistance in combating Islamist activities and severed connections with longstanding Western allies like France and the United States.