West African military and officials from France met Tuesday in Benin to discuss strategies to combat a surge in pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea that has raised alarm in the shipping industry.
The three-day meeting of officials from Benin, Ghana and Togo was to focus on attacks that have seen pirates hijack tankers off the west African coast and steal fuel or oil cargo to sell on the region's lucrative black market.
Experts from the United Nations, European Union and the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also took part.