Benin border tension runs high

2006-01-24 22:13

Cotonou - Tension is building on the frontier between the West African countries of Benin and Burkina Faso after cross-border clashes between rival communities, said a top military officer on Tuesday.

Benin's chief of general staff general Mathieu Boni said both governments sent troop reinforcements to the land border in recent days and road traffic between the neighbouring areas was disrupted.

Boni said: "Following an incursion by Burkinabe soldiers in the Kourou-Kouala area on Sunday, vehicle movement between Burkina Faso and Benin has been disrupted."

He said: "Vehicles have been coming in from Burkina Faso since Benin sent a military unit to the frontier, but movement in the other direction is blocked."

Rival civilian populations - Benin's Bariba community and the Mossi of Burkina Faso - had accused each other of colonising each other's land and the two groups have engaged in sporadic violent clashes in recent years.

- AFP