Jul 24. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a branch of the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda operating in the Sahel, has claimed responsibility for the attack carried out over the weekend in northern Togo, which resulted in the deaths of at least twelve soldiers.
The group said in a statement that its “mujahideen” managed to “take control” of the attacked military base and added that they also seized various weapons, including mortars and machine guns, before abandoning the site.
According to information gathered by the Togolese news portal Ici Lomé, the attack was carried out on Saturday against a military post in Kpinkankandi at around 3 p.m. (local time), adding that the attackers used heavy weapons and mortars.
The attacked outpost is located in the Kpendjal prefecture, situated in the province of Sabanas (north), where a state of emergency has been in force since June 2022 in response to the increase in the jihadist threat due to the expansion of these organisations from the Sahel towards West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
Togo had been relatively safe from the jihadist violence that has devastated its northern neighbor Burkina Faso and other countries in the Sahel region for most of the past decade, although it declared a state of emergency in June 2022 following an attack in Kpékpakandi that left eight soldiers dead.
Add Comment