UNODC Organizes Expert Group Meeting to Standardize Procedures on Evidence Collection in Terrorism-related Incidents in Remote Border Areas in Bénin


Northern Benin faces growing security challenges as terrorist groups exploit remote border areas to carry out attacks against civilians and security forces, including incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

While military operations have strengthened security in these regions, significant gaps remain in ensuring that evidence collected during counter-terrorism interventions is admissible before national courts. Limited access for law enforcement to crime scenes, combined with the absence of standardized procedures for documentation and preservation, often compromis the integrity of evidence needed for prosecutions

Read more…
Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • AQIM’s Imperial Playbook: Understanding al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb’s Expansion into West Africa

    April 29, 2022

    In 2021, the United Nations noted the newfound threats of the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), a branch of al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), that extended into Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast, stretching farther yet into Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Had an observer in 2006 had this information presented to ...

  • Benin: Five soldiers killed in IED attack in north west

    April 13, 2022

    Five soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected an armed group possibly linked to ISIL or al-Qaeda in a national park in the north of Benin Republic, two military sources have said. The attack on Monday also wounded several soldiers who are being treated at a nearby hospital, said the sources. . The soldiers were killed at ...

  • Benin: Death toll in national park attacks in the north rises as France opens terror probe

    February 11, 2022

    Nine people including a Frenchman were killed this week in attacks in a national park in Benin’s remote north bordering troubled Niger and Burkina Faso, according to a government update. The toll was the deadliest in recent attacks Benin has suffered as coastal West African states face spillover from Sahel countries battling jihadists. An African Parks patrol ...

  • Benin army vehicle strikes land mine as security fears in north grow

    January 7, 2022

    A Benin army vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in a national park near the border with Burkina Faso on Thursday, the park’s management said, the latest in a series of security incidents as fears rise about widening Islamist violence. Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported that two soldiers were killed in the explosion. African Parks, the South ...

  • Selected Police personnel in Africa trained in explosives combat

    August 28, 2021

    Selected Police personnel from 11 African countries have undergone explosive recognition and awareness training to combat explosive-related threats by terrorists and extremists. The two-week training dubbed: “Explosives Hazards Awareness Training (EHAT) of Trainers,” drew participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameron, Egypt, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Gambia. Held at the Ghana ...

  • Nigeria, others seek UK support over Boko Haram, ISWAP

    January 23, 2021

    The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) says it is exploring areas of support from the United Kingdom in the fight against terrorism. Chief of Military Public Information, Col. Muhammad Dole, announced this in a statement on Saturday. Member countries of MNJTF, formed in 2015, are Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. Boko Haram and ISWAP have been operating ...

  • The fledgling insurgency in Burkina’s east

    September 20, 2018

    Since February this year, a new battlefront has emerged in eastern Burkina Faso (ACLED, 2018), in the Est Region situated along the borders with Niger, Benin, and Togo is regarded as a bastion of banditry. However, militancy is a new phenomenon in this part of the country, except the reported failed attempt by Al-Mourabitoun to ...