Benin admits that 54 soldiers died in the JNIM border attack

The Benin government acknowledged that 54 soldiers were killed by Jihadists in the north near Burkin -fos and Niger.

Earlier, the authorities said only eight soldiers were killed.

The revised figure makes her the most deadly, as the rebels began to operate in northern Benin at the beginning of the decade.

The attack was claimed by a group associated with al-Qaeda Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam Wall Muslimen (JNIM), which has been based in Mali but has expanded its activities to neighboring countries in recent years.

A group of jihadists said 70 soldiers were killed in two military posts in the north, the intelligence group reports.

JNIM is one of several groups of jihadists working in the Sahel West African region, especially Mali, Niger and Burkin -Phas, where military governments are struggling.

In recent years, Benin has observed the growth of jihadists’ activity because the groups related to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda spread to the south.

“Heavy losses for the nation,” President Serge Neon, Facebook reported on Wednesday.

Another press secretary of the Government Wilfrid Leandr Handzhidi said Benin was determined to continue fighting jihadists.

“We will not succumb … I can assure you that sooner or later, we will win,” he said.