Togo on Tuesday extended a State of Emergency for six months in its Northern Savanes Region, citing the need for a ‘’return of peace” in an area where several Jihadist attacks have taken place.

The country has recorded at least five attacks since November, as the West African Nation and its coastal neighbours, Benin, Ghana and Ivory Coast face growing threats from Jihadists in the Sahel North of their borders.

Togo in June declared a State of Emergency that was due in mid-September, but the Parliamentarians on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend it for another six months, until March 2023.

The President of the National Assembly, Yawa Djigbodu said “Our peaceful populations are under attack and our objective and the objective of the President, Chief of the Armed Forces, is to give our security agencies all the necessary means to put an end to this threat.’’

On his part, Minister of Security Damehame Yark said that the State of Emergency extension is needed for the proper conduct of military operations, maintaining order, and for a return of peace and security in the region.

The deadliest incident recorded so far in Togo came in July, when gunmen attacked four villages and several people were killed and wounded.