Togo President Faure Gnassingbe Says 140 People Killed

Togo President Faure Gnassingbe says around 40 soldiers and 100 civilians have been killed in a jihadist “war” in northern Togo.

Speaking in an interview with local private station New World TV broadcast, Gnassingbe they have paid a heavy price, especially their defence and security forces, who have lost around 40 men added to that a hundred or so civilian victims in the country.

The small West African nation, along with neighbouring Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast, is increasingly facing threats of a jihadist spillover from Burkina Faso and Mali.

The president said a three-tiered strategy had been put in place to confront the threat, including launching a military operation known as Koundjoare in September 2018.

The 56-year-old, reelected three times in polls contested by the opposition, addressed concerns over the government and military’s choice to stay mum over the more frequent attacks when questioned by the media.

Members of the political opposition and civil society have often criticised the authorities’ silence over the situation in the north.

An official asking to remain anonymous recently told AFP that this was “a choice, because we have to protect our defence and security forces.”

Gnassingbe warned the Togolese people “should expect a long fight with dramatic moments, which is is inevitable in times of war.”

In addition to military operations, he said the government had set up “an inter-ministerial committee for the prevention and fight against violent extremism.”

The region is also hosting people displaced from Burkina Faso, and the president said that about half of the 100 civilians killed in the jihadist “war” in the north were not Togolese citizens.