Six Beninese soldiers were killed in a militant attack on an army position in the country’s north, where security forces are battling cross-border incursions by Islamist armed groups, an army spokesperson said.
The attack, which occurred on Saturday, also left 17 militants dead, army spokesperson Ebenezer Honfoga told Reuters late on Sunday, without providing further details.
It comes weeks after a deadly January assault in northern Alibori, near the borders with Niger and Burkina Faso, where dozens of soldiers were killed.
Benin and neighboring Togo have seen a rise in attacks in recent years as groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda push beyond their strongholds in West Africa’s central Sahel.