The attack occurred on April 17. Government spokesman Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji provided a revised casualty toll after authorities initially said only a small number of soldiers had died.
This attack marks another deadly chapter for Benin, a West African country of approximately 14 million people. In January, Benin suffered an assault in which around 30 soldiers were killed.
A West African al-Qaeda affiliate called the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The militant group, which has a history of violent actions in the region, claimed it had killed 70 soldiers and published photos of seized weapons and ammunition, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
JNIM and offshoots of the Islamic State have been causing instability in countries in the Sahel region – including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – for over a decade, seizing control of vast territories.
The violence has increasingly spread to states including Benin, Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast, where the terrorist groups exploit local ethnic conflicts to seize land and resources.
GNA
PDC