Islamic activists killed at least 54 soldiers in northern Benin last week, the country's government said.
The attack took place in the Alibori department of the nation-east of West Africa, which borders Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria.
The Benin government initially declared that eight soldiers died in the attack last Thursday, but considerably revised the number of deaths on Wednesday.
Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam Wal Muslimeen (Jnim), a terrorist group based in Mali linked to Al-Qaeda, said that it was behind the killings.
He said he killed 70 soldiers, according to the Intelligence Group site.
Benin has seen the terrorist activity increase in recent years, with extremist groups that operate in the Sahel region, launching more cross -border attacks.
The W-Arly-Pendjari complex, a border area between Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, is particularly affected by this violence.
Speaking on the last attack, the spokesman for the government of Benin, Wilfried, Léandre Houngbédji, said that neighboring countries must do more to fight the threat posed by the jihadists.
“The points where these attacks of April 17 took place are on the border, so you can understand that if, on the other side of the border, there was a force like ours, these attacks would not take place in this way or would not even occur,” he said.
“The soldiers who fell are our children, our parents, our friends.”
Jnim also claimed the responsibility of an attack in early January which killed 28 people from the Benis.
