The Government of the Republic of Benin has confirmed multiple deaths following a failed coup attempt over the weekend, including the wife of a top military official and the fatal wounding of the president’s military chief of staff.

Details of the attempted power grab emerged on Monday after an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by President Patrice Talon in the capital, Cotonou.

According to the government, violent clashes broke out early Sunday at President Talon’s Cotonou residence between members of the Republican Guard and a faction of mutinous soldiers.

“Casualties were recorded on both sides,” said government secretary general Edouard Ouin-Ouro, citing official cabinet meeting minutes.

Among the fatalities was the wife of General Bertin Bada, the president’s military chief of staff, who was also critically injured in a separate attack before succumbing to the wounds.

Ouin-Ouro revealed that the plotters initially sought to “neutralise or kidnap certain generals and senior army officers” as part of a broader plan to “remove the president of the republic from office, subjugate the Republic’s institutions, and challenge the established order.”

The mutiny began at the Togbin military base in Cotonou and was spearheaded by a small faction of soldiers, according to the government.

On Sunday night, the plotters abducted the chief of staff of the National Guard, Faizou Gomina, and General Abou Issa, the army chief of staff. Both men were later released in the central city of Tchaourou, approximately 350 kilometres from the capital.

In response, the Beninese army launched a swift counter-offensive, surrounding the Togbin base and carrying out “targeted, surgical airstrikes” to retake control. The government stressed that the strikes were conducted “without exposing surrounding neighbourhoods” to harm.

Military support for the operation came from the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which deployed troops from four countries in the region.

“The Togbin base has been retaken. The operation was carried out successfully, without loss of life during the recapture,” Ouin-Ouro confirmed.

He added that the remaining mutineers had fled the area and that several others, estimated at a dozen, had already been arrested.