France claims that the fighters were responsible for violent assaults in Benin, which claimed the lives of many French citizens.
According to the French army, French soldiers have killed dozens of rebels in Burkina Faso who were related to fatal assaults in neighboring Benin this week that killed a number of people, including a Frenchman.
In the Sahel area, the French-led Barkhane force "activated its air intelligence capabilities to find the armed group" responsible for the assaults before launching airstrikes that killed 40 combatants, according to the army's general command on Saturday.
The Frenchman was one of nine people killed this week in two attacks on park rangers in the W National Park, a wildlife reserve in Benin's remote northern region bordering troubled neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso. The W National Park is a wildlife reserve in Benin's remote northern region bordering troubled neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso.
Several people were murdered on Tuesday by roadside explosives, according to a Beninese government toll. The victims included five park guards, one park administrator, one soldier, and a French trainer.
After that, another park administrator was murdered in an explosion two days later.
At the wake of a "terrorist incident" in the park, France said on Thursday that it had launched an inquiry. A 50-year-old civilian was among those murdered in the "attack."
African Parks, the organization in charge of operating the reserve, confirmed that the Frenchman had worked there as a "principal law enforcement teacher."
Benin has long been considered one of the more peaceful nations in West Africa, a region where militants from al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) are threatening Sahel countries. However, the country has recently been the target of a number of terrorist strikes.
Criminal smuggling organizations also operate along the country's southern border.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
When their vehicle collided with an improvised explosive device in the northern Atakora area in January, two Beninese soldiers died as a result of their deaths.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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