Benin in the cross chair of terrorist violence

Phoenician officials confirmed the number of bodies left by the multiple bombings, of which no organization was responsible, and the victims were mostly two patrol members of forest rangers from the NGO African Parks.

According to Edouard Ouin-Oro, secretary-general of the Benin Cabinet, the explosives on Tuesday and last Thursday were home-made and attacked two groups of rangers who were chasing hunters and indirectly ambushed both gangs.

In a statement, the president of the African country, Patrice Talon, noted that the border area of ​​Niger and Burkina Faso was important due to the increase in terrorist activities and promised to intensify the fight against this bitterness.

In all, five forest rangers, two civilian agents from the African Park Network, as well as their French instructor and a soldier from the Armed Forces were killed.

A further 12 people were injured, following which the army deployed more troops to strengthen security in the national park.

Until now, Benin has not been the main target of frequent terrorist attacks in neighboring West African states, mainly in the semi-desert Sahel region, although it shares its defensive policies.

However, on February 6, security forces killed a suspected terrorist during a siege against a military unit in the northwestern city of Yangoli, according to the La Novel Tribune newspaper.

Although there were no casualties among the soldiers, the attackers fled and this fact was of great interest to the organizations responsible for maintaining the stability of the country, where the deaths of two soldiers were recorded earlier in the year. A blast.

Amid attacks by extremist Islamist-linked extremist groups, a movement toward the northwestern part of Benin has not been ruled out, with fundamentalists’ search for access to the Gulf of Guinea crucial to trade and oil. Exchange.

Therefore, the small Francophone State is increasing the strategic importance of guaranteeing the security of neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, which are experiencing the bitter experience of terrorist attacks and attempting to neutralize such acts, which some outright pessimistic observers find difficult.

“The strategy of the extremists is to advance further and further north towards countries such as Ivory Coast in the northern part of the Gulf of Guinea, where attacks are no longer a novelty, nor are Benin and Togo severely affected. Invasion (…)”, journalist José Naranjo at elpais.com Says.

According to experts, there are continuous conditions in the north of Benin that allow radical groups to carry out confessions, among other things, the area with the lowest population density, which allows individuals or armed traffic. Groups.

There are no signs of permanent bases of extremist organizations in the country, but “these are moving and have logistics resources and contacts with the citizens of Benin in the northern provinces of Alipore, Atagora and Borkov”, where the pro-Islam group operates and Muslims (JNIM) buy and / or buy food and fuel. The thief.

Luis Antonio González Francisco in a situational analysis said, “JNIM was established in the W Park next to Burkina Faso to expel the Islamic State of the Great Sahara, which is dependent on Dasha (Islamic State), and to ensure that terrorist groups stay in the area.”

President Dalோn’s message refers to the military’s position on counter-terrorism, which guarantees peace in the critical area and “guarantees peace and security in the entire national territory”, in line with the principle adopted by each African government as its duty.

Analyst Bakery Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute in Mali, believes the weakness of states that are not ready for the asymmetrical confrontation that could arise with the rise of terrorist groups will clearly benefit them.

All of the above seek to explain the causes and effects of the eruptions in W National Park – a natural reserve covering an area of ​​about 10,000 square kilometers in Burkina Faso and Niger – where they are home to endangered species of flora and fauna. On another enemy, cunning and frantic.

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