In northern Togo, facing incursions from Islamist groups present on the other side of the border in Burkina Faso, jihadist violence has intensified since the beginning of the year, despite a declared silence from the authorities so as "not to demoralize" the troops.

Official reports on the attacks are sparse: in 2023, the government acknowledged more than 30 deaths in "terrorist" attacks. No official figures have been released for 2024, but the US think tank Security Council Report puts the death toll at 52.

And since January 2025, at least 62 people (54 civilians and 8 soldiers) have been killed in 15 jihadist attacks in the north, according to a recent statement by Robert Dussey, the Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

These losses reflect a resurgence of jihadist violence in the northern part of the country.

The "media invisibility" stems from a "policy of information lockdown" by the government, points out Madi Djabakate, a Togolese political scientist and essayist.

The High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) has "expressly forbidden journalists from reporting on the attacks, human or material losses, so as not to demoralize the troops engaged on the ground," he added to AFP.

Like its neighbor Benin, Togo is facing an intensification of violence linked to the security situation in eastern Burkina Faso.

The Burkinabe province of Kompienga, near the border, is home to a powerful katiba of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

Attacks without "discontinuity"

The Togolese prefecture of Kpendjal, located just on the border in the Savanes region, is the most affected by jihadist attacks.

"The borders are porous. The same populations that are in Kompienga are found on the Kpendjal side," Mathias Khalfaoui, a specialist in security issues in West Africa, explained to AFP.

In 2024, Burkina Faso was the country that recorded the most deaths due to "terrorism" for the second consecutive year with 1,532 victims, out of a global total of 7,555, reports the Global Terrorism Index.

Togo experienced its first deadly attack in May 2022, and since then the country has "experienced attacks and other events linked to jihadist groups on its territory without any real discontinuity," Mathias Khalfaoui said in a recent study for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

But the advance of jihadist groups can easily go unnoticed, because it is "slow and methodical," says the same source.

"We have to go back to December 2022 to find a month that, to our knowledge, has no attacks," the study continues, adding that "until 2023, the danger was still concentrated in the territories directly bordering Burkina Faso," in the Kpendjal prefecture. But "since May 2024," jihadist activities have spread further south to the neighboring prefectures of Oti and Oti Sud.

"Absence of the State"

Furthermore, the difficult social and economic situation of the populations of the north in the Savanes region, the least developed and poorest in Togo, contributes to the deterioration of the security situation, notes the same source.

"The affected prefectures, particularly Kpendjal and Kpendjal-Ouest, suffer from a structural absence of state support. The assignment of civil servants to these areas is seen as a punishment, given the difficult living conditions and the non-existent public services," confirms Madi Djabakate, who points to Togo's "essentially military and repressive response."

In 2023, however, the country implemented the Savannah Emergency Program (PURS) to try to improve the living conditions of the populations of the north, where a state of emergency has been in effect since June 2022.

Around 8,000 Togolese soldiers are deployed there as part of Operation Koundjoaré, launched in 2018, Robert Dussey recently announced.

The defense budget has also increased, from 8.7% of total public spending in 2017 to 17.5% in 2022, he added.

"Togo reacted very quickly. But these are things that are built over time," says Mathias Khalfaoui.

Many observers believe that only regional cooperation can defeat jihadism in a divided West Africa.