In brief
After a thwarted coup attempt in Benin, the government has announced the deployment of approximately 200 soldiers from West African nations, primarily Nigeria and Ivory Coast. The troops are there to support local forces in a clean-up operation. The coup was successfully countered, with Nigeria's military playing a key role. A manhunt is underway for the coup's leader, who has reportedly fled to Togo.
Some 200 West African soldiers, mainly from Nigeria and Ivory Coast, are in Benin to support the government following Sunday's failed coup, Benin's foreign minister says.
The attempt was foiled after Nigeria deployed fighter jets to drive the mutineers out of a military base and state TV headquarters, where they had declared a takeover.
This is the first time that officials have said how many foreign soldiers were deployed to the country, although it is not clear if some have been withdrawn since Sunday.
Benin's Foreign Affairs Minister Olushegun Adjadi Bakari on Thursday said some of the regional troops sent to help had remained in the country as part of the sweep and clean-up operation.
A manhunt for those involved in the plot is under way, with the leader of the failed coup said to be taking refuge in neighbouring Togo.
The rebel soldiers justified their actions by criticising President Patrice Talon's management of the country, complaining first about his handling of the continuing deterioration of the security situation in northern Benin.
The West African regional bloc, Ecowas, deployed troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast to secure key installations and prevent any resurgence of the violence.
Nigeria, Benin's large neighbour to the east, said its soldiers had reached there on Sunday, describing the coup attempt as a direct assault on democracy.
An Ivory Coast security source told AFP news agency that 50 soldiers from the country had been sent as part of the regional deployment.
There are currently around 200 soldiers present, who came to lend a hand at the end of the day to the Beninese defence and security forces as part of the sweep and clean-up operation, said Bakari, while addressing journalists in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Thursday.
Discussions are continuing over how long the regional forces would remain, but Bakari said any decision will be taken in close collaboration with Benin's defence and security forces, who have demonstrated their bravery.
Under intense pressure after a string of successful coups in the region, Ecowas is signalling that it is no longer willing to watch democratically elected governments be toppled by the military.
