Togo confirms over 60 killed in Al Qaeda-linked attacks

As insecurity spirals in Togo, the country’s foreign minister says a group affiliated with Al Qaeda has killed at least 54 civilians and 8 soldiers so far this year.

The comments to news agency, Reuters, was a rare official acknowledgement of the death toll in attacks.

Robert Dussey said there have been 15 incidents in northern Togo, which borders on Burkina Faso, perpetrated by the insurgent group Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin.

Togo has seen a rise in jihadist activity in recent years, as groups linked to Islamic State and Al Qaeda spread from the West African Sahel region.

The surge comes at a time when regional governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, have moved away from their traditional Western allies.

Following a wave of coups, the three nations at the heart of the Sahel have turned instead to Russia for military assistance.

Western powers that previously invested in trying to beat back the jihadists have very little capacity left on the ground in the region, which is now seen as the world’s terrorism hotspot.