The Ministry of Security in Togo has announced in a statement that 8 soldiers have been killed and 13 persons have been injured following an attack carried out by an unidentified armed group in the northern town of Kpékpakandi.
In the early hours of Wednesday 11 May an unidentified armed group attacked the advance control post of the Togolese army. This happened in the town of Kpékpakandi, in the prefecture of Kpendjal, to the north of the country.
The attack left 8 soldiers dead and 13 attackers injured, according to official sources at the Togolese government. It took place close to the border with Burkina Faso. At around 3 o’clock in the morning, and could be linked to jihadist groups operating in the neighbouring country. The population of Burkina Faso have suffered a wave of jihadist violence since 2015, and this has so far led to the forced displacement of 1.85 million people.
Togo had not suffered jihadist attacks, but various experts say that these armed groups are expanding their operations to coastal countries in west Africa. Not in vain, Benin suffered a similar attack in February 2022 in which 8 people were killed in the W National Park. Côte d’Ivoire has also suffered attacks in recent years along its border with Burkina Faso.
A terrorist attack in Togo that makes the instability worse
The Togolese Government has strongly condemned the attack. It describes as ‘cowardly and barbaric’, and it has called on the population of the places affected to ‘be on the alert and not panic’.
Togo is one of Africa’s poorest countries, and is ranked 167 out of 189 in the UN Human Development Index. Added to the poverty, the lack of freedoms, and the growing inflation generated by the war in Ukraine, now there is one more threat to make the social and political instability in the country worse.
