How an al-Qaeda offshoot became one of Africa’s deadliest militant groups

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How an al-Qaeda offshoot became one of Africa’s deadliest militant groups

The affiliate of Al-Qaeda Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Musliman (Jnim) is the main group behind a wave of militant jihadist attacks which sweep several West African countries, in particular Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

On July 1, the group said that it had led a major coordinated attack on seven military locations in western Mali, including near the borders with Senegal and Mauritania.

There is an increasing concern about the impact that Jnim could have on the stability of the region.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had trouble containing violence – and this is one of the factors that have contributed to several military coups in the three Sahel countries in the past five years.

But as the civil governments they have replaced, the Juntas are apparently unable to stem the growing jihadist threat, especially Jnim.

What is Jnim?

Jnim has become one of the deadliest jihadist groups in Africa in the space of a few years.

It was trained in Mali in 2017, as a coalition of five jihadist militant groups:

The branch of the Al-Qaeda Sahara in the Islamic Maghreb

These groups began to collaborate after the French army rejected several jihadist and separatist organizations which operated in northern Mali in 2012. Finally, the leaders of the groups gathered to create Jnim.

In recent years, they have developed geographically, establishing new areas of operation.

Jnim is led by Iyad Ag Ghali, a former Malian diplomat who belongs to the ethnic group Tuareg. He was at the head of the uprising of Tuareg against the Malian government in 2012 which sought to establish an independent state for the Tuareg people called Azawad. Deputy chief Amadou Koufa is from the Peuls community.

Analysts believe that the central management helps to guide the local branches that operate in the Sahel region in West Africa.

If it is difficult to know exactly how many fighters there are in the ranks of Jnim, or how many have recently been recruited, experts suggest that it could be several thousand – mainly young men and boys who lack other economic opportunities in one of the poorest regions in the world.

What does Jnim want?

The group rejects the authority of the governments of Sahel, seeking to impose its strict interpretation of Islam and Sharia law in the areas where it operates.

Analysts say that in certain regions, Jnim is known to impose strict dress codes, implement prohibitions against music and smoking, order men to grow beard and prevent women from being in public spaces alone.

This version of Islam can be in contradiction with religion as it is practiced by local communities, explains Yvan Guichaoua, principal researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies.

“These practices are clearly detached from established and certainly not very popular practices,” he said.

“But whether it is attractive or not, it also depends on what the state is able to deliver, and there has been a lot of disappointment in what the state has done in recent years.”

Disillusionment towards the secular justice system can introduce the attractive sharia law for some.

Where does Jnim work?

After his beginnings in the center and northern Mali, Jnim quickly widened his scope. While his bastions are in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Jnim also led attacks in Benin, Togo and at a given time in Côte d’Ivoire.

It is now operational in Mali and 11 of the 13 regions of Burkina Faso, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), an organization of civil society.

In the past year, Burkina Faso has become the epicenter of group activities – mainly the border regions of the North and the East. This is, in part, due to divisions and defections in the military of the country as well as the depth of militants in local communities, according to Beverly Ochieng, principal analyst of the security consulting company Control Risk.

“Jnim has the ability to integrate into local communities or to be able to use local grievances as a means of recruiting or gaining sympathy for their cause,” she told the BBC.

Do Jnim attacks increase on a scale?

In recent months, violent incidents have increased to Burkina Faso at previously invisible levels, according to the analysis of the BBC Monitoring media team. Major attacks have also recently been carried out in Mali, Niger and Benin.

In the first half of 2025, Jnim said that he had led more than 280 attacks in Burkina Faso – double the number for the same period in 2024, according to the data checked by the BBC.

The group said it has killed nearly 1,000 people across the Sahel since April, most of the security force or militias fighting alongside government forces, according to BBC surveillance data.

Nearly 800 of them were alone in Burkina Faso. The victims in Mali were the next highest (117) and Benin (74).

“The frequency of attacks in June is simply unknown so far,” explains Mr. Guichaoua. “They have really intensified their activities in recent weeks.”

Activists use a variety of tactics designed to cause maximum disturbance, explains Ms. Ochieng.

“They plant iED [improvised explosive devices] On key roads and have long -range capacities.

“They [also] Targets security forces in military bases, so many of their weapons come. They also attacked civilians – in cases where communities are perceived as cooperating with the government. “”

Starlink – A company belonging to Elon Musk which provides the Internet via satellites – has also been operated by groups like JNIM to improve their capacities, according to a recent G -TOC report.

The company provides high speed internet where regular mobile networks are not available or unreliable.

Activating groups pass the Starlink aircraft in the country along the well-established smuggling roads, says G-Toch.

“Starlink made things much easier [militant groups] To plan and execute attacks, share information, recruit members, make financial transactions and maintain contacts with their commanders even during active conflicts, “Gi-Toc analyst at the Podcast Focus On Africa of the BBC told.

The BBC contacted Starlink to comment.

How is Jnim funded?

The group has several sources of income.

At one point in Mali, funds were collected by the kidnapping of foreigners for ransom, but little remains in the country due to the deterioration of the security situation.

According to a Gi-Toc analyst. They did not want to be appointed because it could risk their safety in Mali.

“Mali is a large exporter of cattle, so it is easy for them to fly animals and sell them,” said the analyst.

Research by Gi-Toc shows that in a year in a single district of Mali, Jnim has won $ 770,000 (£ 570,000) of cattle. Based on this figure, Jnim could earn millions of dollars to a cattle flight.

Jnim also imposes various taxes, according to experts.

“They tax gold, but essentially impose everything that goes through their territory, whether on listed goods or illicit products,” explains Gi-Toc.

“There may be a type of tax extortion, where Jnim tells citizens that they have to pay in exchange for protection.”

Activists are also known to set up blockages, during which people have to pay to leave and enter the region, according to Ms Ochieng.

What about efforts to fight them?

The French armed forces were on the ground to support the government in Mali for almost a decade – with more than 4,000 soldiers stationed in combat groups in the Sahel region which then formed Jnim, as well as the Islamic State in the Grand Sahara.

Although they achieved some success in 2013 and 2014, recovering the territory of activists and killing several senior commanders, this did not stop Jnim’s growth after his training.

“The counterinsurgency efforts have failed so far because of this idea that Jnim can be beaten militarily, but it is only by the negotiation that the group will end,” suggested the analyst of Gi-Toc.

In 2014, the Sahelian countries gathered to train the G5 Sahel working group, a group of international troops of 5,000 people. However, in the past two years, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have withdrawn, undergoing the capacity of the working group to fight against the insurrection.

MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping force – although it was not an effort of counterinsurgency – was also in Mali for a decade to support efforts, but he left the country at the end of 2024.

What impact did the military coups have on Jnim?

A line graph showing the number of attacks 2017-2024, with the various strokes of state marked. The number increases regularly until 2023 when it was flat — [BBC]

Military kicks took place in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and in Niger in 2023.

According to analysts, under the military junta in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, allowed militant groups like Jnim to flourish, according to analysts.

These juntas were quick to tell the French troops to leave, replacing them with Russian support and a joint force formed by the three Sahelian countries.

Although the Russian paramilitary group Wagner has completely withdrawn its troops from Mali, Africa Corps, a paramilitary group controlled by the Kremlin, will remain in place.

In Burkina Faso, a so-called “voluntary” army, launched in 2020 before taking military control, is a strategy used to combat activists. Junta chief Ibrahim Traoré said he wanted to recruit 50,000 fighters.

But experts say that many of these volunteers are enlisted by force. Inadequate training means that they often suffer heavy losses. They are also often a target for JNIM attacks.

The military juntas of Burkina Faso and Mali have also been accused by human rights organizations of having committed atrocities against civilians, in particular ethnic Fulani. The Human Rights group affirms that the government often confuses the Peul community with the Islamist armed groups, which continued the hampered peace efforts.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, the military government and their Russian allies were responsible for 1,486 civilian victims in Mali, according to Gi-Toc.

This extreme violence against civilians has aroused anger towards the government, fueling additional recruitment for Jnim.