Beninese authorities confirmed the number of bodies left by the detonations of several bombs, of which no organization claimed responsibility and the victims were mostly members of two patrols of forest rangers from the non-governmental organization African Parks.
As reported by the secretary general of the Benin cabinet, Edouard Ouin-Oro, the devices that exploded on Tuesday and last Thursday were homemade and hit two groups of rangers who were chasing poachers and presumably both gangs were ambushed.
Through a statement, the president of that African country, Patrice Talon, indicated that the border area with Niger and Burkina Faso is critical due to the increase in terrorist actions and guaranteed that he will intensify the fight against this scourge.
In total, the casualties were five forest rangers, two civilian agents from the African Parks network, as well as their French instructor and a soldier from the Armed Forces.
Also 12 people were injured and after the fact the army deployed more soldiers in the national park to reinforce security.
Until now, Benin has not been a main target in the frequent terrorist attacks on neighboring West African states, mainly in the semi-desert Sahel strip, although it shares its defensive ideals.
However, on February 6, the security forces annihilated a suspected terrorist in the course of a siege against a military unit in the town of Yangoli, in the northwestern region of the country, the newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune published.
Although there were no casualties among the soldiers and the attackers fled, this fact was a matter of great interest for the bodies responsible for preserving the stability of the country, where at the beginning of the year the death of two soldiers was recorded due to the explosion of a bomb.
In the midst of an alleged offensive by extremist groups of distorted Islamic affiliation, a movement towards the northwestern Beninese region is not ruled out, in what could be the fundamentalists’ search for access to the Gulf of Guinea, important for commercial exchange and oil transfer.
Hence, the strategic importance of guaranteeing the security of the small Francophone state, neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, which are also going through bitter experiences of terrorist attacks and are striving to neutralize such acts, which some observers with open pessimism consider difficult, increases.
“The strategy of the radicals is to gain more and more ground and advance towards the northern regions of the Gulf of Guinea countries such as the Ivory Coast, where attacks are no longer a novelty, or Benin and Togo, which have suffered serious incursions ( …) ”, says the journalist José Naranjo in elpais.com.
According to experts, the north of Benin has a series of conditions that would allow the advance and establishment of radical groups of a confessional nature, among other aspects because it is a region with a low population density, which allows the transit of individuals or armed groups. occur without being located.
There are no indications of permanent bases of extremist formations in the country, but “these move and have logistical resources and contacts with Benin citizens in the northern provinces of Alibori, Atacora and Borgou”, where the Islam Support Group operates and the Muslims (JNIM), who buy and/or steal food and fuel.
Luis Antonio González Francisco in a situational analysis adds that “the JNIM was installed in the W park on the side of Burkina Faso to evict the Islamic State of the Great Sahara, dependent on Daesh (Islamic State) from the territory”, with which it confirms the interest of terrorist groups for remaining in the area.
President Talon’s message specifies the Army’s position against terrorism to guarantee the tranquility of the critical zone and “guarantee peace and security in the entire national territory,” which corresponds to the doctrine also adopted by his neighbors as a duty of each of the African governments.
Researcher Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute in Mali, believes that the weakness of states that are not prepared for an asymmetric conflict such as the one that can arise in an escalation of terrorist groups clearly benefits them so that they can continue their advance.
All of the above tries to explain the causes and consequences of the explosive attacks in the W National Park, -a nature reserve of some 10,000 square kilometers that also includes areas of Burkina Faso and Niger- where the tranquility of the fauna and flora they stumble upon another enemy, cunning and fanatical.
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