Militants inflicted heavy losses on Benin's armed forces during an attack this week on a fortified military post in the north of the country, the military

Benin forces suffer heavy losses in an attack near the border with Niger and Burkina Faso

Benin's armed forces have suffered heavy losses in an attack on one of their most well-equipped positions in the north, where troops are trying to curb cross-border assaults by Islamist militants, the national guard's chief of staff said on Thursday.

Twenty-eight soldiers were killed in an attack in northern Benin, a security source told AFP on Thursday, as violence blamed on jihadists based in neighbouring countries increases.