Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) has claimed to have killed 70 soldiers in an attack on two military installations in the West African country of Benin. Reuters reports.
The SITE Intelligence Agency, which monitors the activities of militant organizations, reported this on Saturday, Reuters reported. JNIM is an affiliate of the Middle East-based militant group al-Qaeda. They are very active in the West African region.
Benin and its coastal neighbor Togo have been the victims of a series of attacks by several militant groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in recent years. These attacks provide evidence that these Salafi militant groups are quite active beyond the Sahel region.
Reuters could not immediately verify the veracity of JNIM’s claim about the latest attack in Benin.
The terrorist group took root in the Sahel after a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in 2012. They spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger before recently reaching the north of coastal West African countries like Benin.