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Generation Jihad | Losing ground: Somalia and Mali’s jihad problem
The US is losing leverage in Somalia as frustration with Mogadishu threatens critical African Union support and risks strengthening Al Shabaab’s hold. In Mali, renewed US airstrikes against JNIM raise a parallel concern—whether air power alone, without a ground strategy or political reform, can contain the group’s advance. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss examine these dynamics across the Sahel and the assess the murky state of Al Qaeda.
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Shabaab spokesman congratulates JNIM, denounces Western powers in Eid message
During his message for Eid al Adha, Ali Mohamad Rage, Shabaab’s top spokesman, congratulated the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al Qaeda’s branch in West Africa, for its recent victories in Mali. Rage also praised Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and denounced American and Turkish activities in Somalia.
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Generation Jihad | Can Fortress Bamako Hold?
Across Mali, jihadis are seizing territory, encircling the capital, and pushing a fragile regime toward collapse. Backed by a sprawling network and in an effort years in the making, Al Qaeda’s Sahel affiliate has launched its most ambitious offensive yet—one that could redraw the map of West Africa. Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss unpack what’s going on.
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JNIM and allied rebels surge across Mali, take several cities, pressure capital
Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and its allies in the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) conducted a massive, widespread offensive in Mali, from Bamako to Kidal, on Saturday. Several cities fell under the complete or partial control of the militant alliance, while others, including Mali’s capital, remain under intense pressure.
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Islamic State claims assault on airport in Niger’s capital
The Islamic State has officially claimed last week’s assault on Niger’s Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital of Niamey, which also hosts the military Air Base 101. Niger claims the assault was repelled, with Russia’s Africa Corps mercenary group also taking credit for the defense.
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American abducted by suspected jihadists in Niger
Kevin Rideout, an American Christian missionary in Niger’s capital of Niamey since 2010, was abducted from his home by suspected jihadists just 100 yards from Niger’s Presidential Palace. Regional security in the Sahel continues to falter as both the Islamic State and Al Qaeda continue to surge.
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Analysis: Turkey and JNIM: Jihadist messaging signals possible conflict between 2 ascending forces in central Sahel
Turkey has steadily increased its foothold in the central Sahel by providing arms, security assistance, and more to regional juntas. Similarly, The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al Qaeda’s branch for the Sahel and West Africa, is on its own upward trajectory, standing as one of the region’s most dominant violent actors. The jihadist group’s external messaging suggests it perceives Turkey to be an obstacle as it seeks to expand its territorial control and influence.
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Analysis: Al Qaeda’s da’wah campaign in West Africa
The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), al Qaeda’s branch for West Africa, has publicized its da’wah (proselytizing) activities in local communities in Mali and Burkina Faso. Photos released by the group document its men delivering religious lectures to locals in the southern Mali region of Kayes and Burkina Faso along the border with Niger.
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Analysis: Al Qaeda strikes the Malian capital
The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), al Qaeda’s West African branch, claimed responsibility for a coordinated assault in Mali’s capital city of Bamako yesterday. The attack comes as JNIM continues to push further south within Mali, threatening the stability of Interim President Assimi Goita’s military regime.
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Analysis: Al Qaeda kills hundreds in Burkina Faso attack
On Saturday, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al Qaeda’s branch for West Africa, killed at least 200 people in a massive assault in central Burkina Faso.
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Tuareg rebels, JNIM each claim victory over Russia’s Wagner Group in Mali
Over the weekend, fierce fighting between Tuareg rebels and the Malian military, backed by mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, was reported in the extreme north of Mali. The Russian mercenaries suffered dozens of casualties—the group’s largest loss to date inside Africa.
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JNIM documents training camp in Burkina Faso
The photos act as a representation of JNIM’s training programs across the Sahel.
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Al-Qaeda’s North and West African branches respond to the Hamas-led invasion of Israel
Both al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, al-Qaeda’s branches in North and West Africa, respectively, have openly praised Hamas for its mass killings of Jews in recent days.
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Analysis: Setting the stage for Mali’s near future
As of Sept. 2023, the future of Mali looks bleaker than ever. If you’re a jihadist, however, then the future is very bright.
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Analysis: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb encourages its Sahelian wing to continue fighting the Islamic State
Abu Yasir al-Jaza’iri, an Algerian ideologue in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, offers the group’s harshest rebuke of the Islamic State to date.
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Northern Mali clans swear allegiance to JNIM
Several communities in Mali’s northern Menaka Region have turned to al Qaeda’s men in the face of extreme pressure and violence from the Islamic State’s local wing.
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Al Qaeda’s JNIM pushes closer to Malian capital
Over the last two weeks, al Qaeda’s West African branch has made a more concerted effort to advance closer to the Malian capital of Bamako.
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German national freed in the Sahel after years of jihadist captivity
German national Jorg Lange was finally freed after being held captive by Islamic State militants in the Sahel since 2018.
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JNIM claims deadly assault in northeastern Togo
This is the third such JNIM claim of responsibility for an attack inside northern Togo.
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Islamic State claims first attacks inside Benin
The two claims of responsibility now confirms that both al Qaeda and the Islamic State are active inside the small West African country.
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Jihadists kill dozens across northern Togo
Almost 30 people have been killed in a series of jihadist attacks – many of which happened near simultaneously – across northern Togo over the last few days.
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Several Westerners kidnapped across the Sahel in recent months
At least three Italians, one Polish citizen, and one American have been kidnapped in the Sahel over the last two months. At least five other Westerners remain in captivity in the region – all of which are held by jihadist groups.
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Togo suffers its first deadly jihadist assault
While Togo suffered its first ever jihadist attack in Nov. 2021, yesterday’s large assault represents the first loss of life from such violence in the small West African state. At least 8 Togolese troops were killed and 13 others wounded in an attack on a base and subsequent IED blast.
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French forces report killing Al Qaeda veteran in Mali
France says its forces killed Yahia Djouadi, a senior veteran of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, inside northern Mali. The raid comes after France and its European allies are set to withdraw from Mali.
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Ansaru reaffirms its allegiance to al Qaeda
In a recent statement released online, Jamaat Ansar al Muslimeen, better known as Ansaru, confirmed it maintains its allegiance to al Qaeda after reportedly re-pledging allegiance to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in 2020.
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Jihadist attacks flow into littoral West Africa
As violence continues to spread across the Sahel, particularly in Burkina Faso, the violence is now seeping into the states of Ivory Coast, Togo, and Benin.
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Al Qaeda field commander reported killed in Mali
Local Malian sources report that the emir of Katibat Gourma, a sub-unit of Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), was killed in a French operation in northern Mali yesterday. France has confirmed it targeted Katibat Gourma, but the death of its emir is not yet confirmed.
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Analysis: Islamic State confirms Sahelian leader’s death, criticizes Al Qaeda
Coming roughly a month after France reported it had killed Abu Walid al Sahrawi, the Islamic State’s leader in the Sahel, the Islamic State itself has finally subtly confirmed the reports. The jihadist group has not publicly named a successor.
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Analysis: Ivory Coast witnesses surge in jihadist activity
Northern Ivory Coast has seen a substantial increase in suspected jihadist attacks since March of this year. Much of the violence is emanating from southwestern Burkina Faso, where al Qaeda’s Katibat Macina is expanding.
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Al Qaeda figure tied to kidnappings reported killed in Mali
Baye Ag Bakabo is linked to several of AQIM’s kidnappings in Mali, including the operation that left two RFI journalists dead in 2013.
