Benin: Policer officer sustains serious injuries in attack by unidentified armed men

Some unidentified armed men have inflicted serious injuries to a policeman in northern Benin, theater of regular fighting between the army and terror groups.

The attack occurred Friday in the village of Birni Lafia, in the commune of Karimama, 24 Au Benin reports.

The unidentified men assaulted the officer alone. They had reportedly previously planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on the road between Karimama and Goumassi Gourma but the explosive was uprooted by armed forces.

The police officer is the third member of security and armed forces to be victim of attack in Karimama region in less than one month.

In December two soldiers died in the blast of an IED at Bako Moko.

The soldiers’ motorbike ran over an IED on their way after they left a military outpost at Bako Moko to fetch potable water.
Also, early this month, armed forces mowed down five assailants in the same region.

Benin has been grappling since 2019 with terrorism in its northern regions close to Burkina Faso where terrorists and bandits have been sowing havoc.

The country suffered its first terror attack in 2019 after two French citizens were kidnapped from Benin’s Pendjari National Park and their local guide murdered. Authorities until September 2023 claimed 40 civilians and 20 soldiers have been killed over the past three years.