BSS :
Togo’s government on Monday declared a “state of security emergency” in its northern border region to give the armed forces more flexibility to deal with the threat of jihadist attacks.
Eight Togolese were killed in May in a northern town near the border with Burkina Faso, in an attack claimed by Mali-based Al-Qaeda militants. Jihadist groups in the Sahel nations have been expanding and increasingly threatening the coastal West African states of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin and Togo. After a Monday ministerial meeting, the government said a state of security emergency had been declared in the Savannah region which covers the country’s most northern provinces.
“It will enhance the speed of decision-making and facilitate greater agility for public services and defence and security forces,” the statement said. Government spokesman Akodah Ayewouadan told reporters the measure would last three months and could be extended by the national assembly.
The Mali-based Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) group had claimed responsibility for the attack in May. Officials had said at the time that eight Togolese soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded.
A senior security source in Togo told AFP the soldiers were attacked by a group of 60 gunmen who arrived on motorbikes.
