Jihadist attack in Benin left 54 dead: government

COTONOU: Suspected jihadist insurgents killed 54 troops in an attack last week on military posts in a Benin national park, the government said on Wednesday.

Government spokesman Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji gave the new toll to a press briefing on the April 17 attack in the W national park in northern Benin, close to the frontiers with Burkina Faso and Niger. Authorities had previously said eight soldiers were killed. This is the heaviest official toll since the start of jihadist attacks in the north.

“Even if its not the 70 ... it´s a lot,” the government spokesman acknowledged. “The soldiers who have fallen are our children, our parents, our friends,” he said.