(Adnkronos) – Several people died in Benin during the attempted coup thwarted over the weekend. This was announced by the government of the West African country after an emergency meeting. On Sunday morning, “violent clashes” broke out between coup plotters and the Republican Guard at President Patrice Talon’s Cotonou residence, with “victims on both sides”.
“The small group of soldiers who organized the revolt wanted to remove the president of the republic from office” and “challenge the established order,” said government secretary-general Édouard Ouin-Ouro. “Initially, they tried to neutralize or kidnap certain generals and high-ranking army officers,” he added. The conspirators, who carried out their mutiny plan at the Togbin base in the capital, kidnapped the chief of staff of the National Guard, Faizou Gomina, and also General Abou Issa, chief of staff of the army, on Sunday evening. Both men were later released in Tchaourou, a central city located more than 350 km from Cotonou.
The army “surrounded the Togbin base” on Sunday, where “targeted surgical air strikes were then carried out, without exposing the surrounding neighborhoods” to danger, the government said. Benin announced that it had received military assistance for the attacks from the Nigerian army and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which announced the deployment of soldiers from four countries in the region. These troops are “currently stationed” at the Togbin base, which “has been recaptured,” according to Ouin-Ouro.
