Two soldiers on motorcycle patrol in northern Benin were killed on Tuesday by an improvised explosive device, military and police sources said on Wednesday.
This region, like the north of neighbouring Togo and Ghana, is regularly rocked by attacks and incursions by jihadist fighters, and a few months ago the Beninese government announced the deployment of additional soldiers to deal with them.
While on motorcycle patrol Tuesday morning in the commune of Karimama, near the border with Niger, two soldiers died after jumping on a homemade bomb, reports learned from a military source, a policeman, and a local resident.
“We lost two men this Tuesday” who “jumped on a homemade mine”, an anonymous military source said.
“Two soldiers on motorcycles lost their lives because they ran over a mine”, a policeman on duty in the area confirmed.
The Beninese government had no immediate comment on the incident.
In recent years, the northern regions of Benin, Togo, and Ghana have been subjected to attacks and incursions by fighters from the Islamic State (EI) and al-Qaeda groups, who thrive in the Sahel and seek to spread southwards.
While the border region with Burkina Faso in the north remains the epicenter of attacks on Beninese soil, the border with Niger has recently become a source of concern, particularly since the overthrow of Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum by the military in July 2023.
