The government of Benin admitted that 54 soldiers had been killed by alleged jihadists in the north of the country last week near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.
Authorities had previously declared that only eight soldiers had been killed.
The revised figure makes it the most deadly known attack since the insurgents began to operate in northern Benin at the start of the decade.
The attack has been claimed by a group linked to Al-Qaeda-Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal Muslimeen (Jnim), which is based in Mali, but has widened its operations to neighboring countries in recent years.
The jihadist group said that he had killed 70 raid soldiers in two military positions in the north, according to the site of the intelligence group.
Jnim is one of the many jihadist groups operating in the West African region, in particular Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where military governments have trouble containing the insurrection.
Benin and Togo have seen an increase in jihadist activity in recent years, while groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have spread to the south.
“The heavy losses for the nation,” the presidential spokesperson Serge Nonvignon on Wednesday wrote in an article on Facebook.
Another government spokesman Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji said Benin was determined to continue the fight against the jihadists.
“We will not give in … I can assure you that sooner or later, sooner or later we will win,” he said.
