About 200 troops from Nigeria and Ivory Coast deployed for ‘cleanup’

About 200 West African soldiers, mainly from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, traveled to Benin to support the government after Sunday’s failed coup, Benin’s foreign minister said.

The attempt was thwarted after Nigeria deployed fighter jets to push the rebels out of a military base and state television headquarters they announced they had taken over.

This is the first time officials have revealed how many foreign troops have been deployed to the country, although it was unclear whether some have been withdrawn since Sunday.

Benin’s Foreign Minister Olusegun Ajadi Bakari said on Thursday that some of the regional troops sent to assist remained in the country “as part of mopping up and clearing operations.”

one A manhunt is underway for those involved in the plot.the leaders of the failed coup are said to be taking refuge in neighboring Togo.

Rebel soldiers have defended their actions by criticizing President Patrice Talon’s management of the country, complaining first about his handling of the “continued deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin.”

West African regional bloc ECOWAS has deployed troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire to secure key installations and prevent a resurgence of violence.

Nigeria, Benin’s big neighbor to the east, said its soldiers had arrived there on Sunday and described the coup attempt as a “direct attack on democracy”.

Ivorian security sources told AFP that the country has sent 50 soldiers to participate in the regional deployment.

“There are currently about 200 soldiers present who came at the end of the day to lend a helping hand to the Benin Defense and Security Forces as part of mopping up and clearing operations,” Bakari told reporters in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Thursday.

Bakari, who spoke alongside Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tugal, said the coup “had failed” when Benin’s army asked for help.

“When we started discussing intervention by Nigeria and other countries under the ECOWAS agreement, our troops have pushed them back,” he added.

What is needed, Bakari said, is “precision air support to enable surgical targeting of critical enemy positions without risking civilian casualties.”

Tugar said swift diplomatic, military and intelligence operations between Nigeria and Benin helped thwart the coup.

Discussions continue over how long the regional troops will be stationed, but Bakari said any decision “will be taken in close collaboration with the Benin Defense and Security Forces, who have shown bravery”.

It is unclear whether French special forces, which also reportedly helped loyalist forces thwart the coup, are still in Benin.

Under intense pressure following a series of successful coups in the region, ECOWAS has signaled that it is no longer willing to watch democratically elected governments be overthrown by the military.

Bakari hailed ECOWAS as “an important tool that enables us to defend democracy and democratic values ​​in our regional space”.

Benin Army In recent years, it has suffered losses near the insurgency-hit northern borders of Niger and Burkina Faso.Jihadist militants linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda are spreading southward.

Talon, seen as a close ally of the West, will resign after completing his second term next year, with elections scheduled for April.