Gunmen on motorcycles attack police post in Benin

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a police station in Benin near its border with Burkina Faso.

The attack took place near one of the wildlife areas, known as W National Park, straddling the borders of northern Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

The incident,  which occurred on Sunday dawn, has sparked fears that suggest that Islamic extremist violence could be encroaching.

According to a statement by a police spokesman, one policeman was killed and another wounded in the attack in the village of Mekrou-Djimdjim.

The gunmen after the attack set fire to the building.

In May 2019, two french tourists were kidnapped in the Pendjari National Park further west and their tour guide was killed.

Islamic militants grabbed hold of the major towns in northern Mali in 2012, only to be dispersed by a French-led military intervention the following year.

Since 2015, neighbouring Burkina Faso has been beset by jihadist attacks and now there are concerns about the northern regions of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast becoming the next front.