a Frenchman killed in a “terrorist attack”, the Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office opens an investigation in Paris

The facts occurred in a natural park. A 50-year-old Frenchman was killed in a “terrorist attack” perpetrated Tuesday in the north of Benin, announced, Thursday, February 10, in Paris, the national anti-terrorist prosecution. An investigation, opened for “assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise”, was entrusted to the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI).

On Wednesday, the environmental NGO African Parks announced that five forest guards and a soldier from the Beninese forces had been killed in an ambush in the park W, a site cross-border natural reserve managed by Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. According to the association, “ten other people” were also injured. According to African Parks, additional military reinforcements and rangers have been deployed to the area.

A recent series of border raids in countries south of the Sahel confirmed suspicions that jihadist groups in the region are seeking to advance towards the coast. The Beninese army has reinforced its presence in the north of the country after two first officially recognized jihadist attacks at the end of last year. In January, two Beninese soldiers were killed when their vehicle fell victim to an improvised bomb attack in the Atakora department in the north of the country.