with our correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan

Admitted as an observer country alongside Niger, Mali was absent, certainly due to ECOWAS sanctions. All other member countries of the Accra Initiative, launched in 2017, were represented: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. An organization whose action consists of sharing information, intelligence, and conducting joint military operations.

In the hotel where the meeting was held, heavily guarded, the major figures of the sub-region's intelligence services. The work was essentially devoted to terrorism with a major concern: seeing jihadist groups operating in coastal countries.

► Read also: Benin strengthens security cooperation with its neighbors in face of surge in attacks

Benin was not spared: only on Monday, while the meeting was being held, a makeshift mine coupled with an ambush killed five Beninese soldiers. How to cope? Mobilize, organize better and retaliate together. Common actions have been carried out in the past, they must be continued and expanded, the meeting decided.

► Read also: in Ghana, Accra Initiative meeting on regional security and operation planning

A large-scale joint operation was in preparation, it was validated by interior ministers. Final step, an important change, the operation will not last just a few days, it will be planned over twelve months. According to our information, seven countries should participate. Border zones will be the main operation areas.