Jul 22. (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least 12 soldiers have been killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen on a military post in the Togolese town of Kpinkankandi, in the north of the African country, which has been shaken in recent years by a surge in attacks by jihadist organisations operating in the Sahel.
According to information gathered by the Togolese news portal Ici Lomé, the attack took place on Saturday at around 3:00 p.m. (local time), adding that the attackers used heavy weapons and mortars.
He added that the attack also left several people injured and missing, raising fears that the death toll could be even higher. The attackers also caused significant material damage and stole military equipment and weapons.
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.
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