COTONOU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 54 soldiers were killed in the terrorist attack that took place in northern Benin on April 17, Beninese government spokesman Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji said on Wednesday.
Houngbedji denied rumors of over a hundred deaths spread on social networks, and expressed condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the Beninese people as a whole, according to Benin's official media La Nation.
Stressing the lack of cooperation between neighboring countries to tackle the terrorist issue in a concerted manner, he emphasized the importance of strengthening material and technical resources to eliminate the terrorist threat.
Benin has been witnessing a growing threat of jihadism from the Sahel in recent years. ■