How JNIM wey get link wit al-Qaeda take turn one of di most deadly terror groups for Africa

BBC News

3 days ago

Surging jihadist violence wey dey sweep across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger dey make pipo worry say di Sahel region for West Africa fit dey destabilised.
One umbrella group wey get link wit al-Qaeda dey claim say na dem do most of di attacks but who dem be and wetin dem want?
Who be JNIM?
Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) don turn one of di most deadly jihadist groups for Africa just within small time.
Dem form am for Mali, and now JNIM dey operate across di Sahel, one big desert region wey cover 10 kontris from di west coast of Africa go reach di east side.
Pipo believe say na dem cause more dan half of all di political violence wey bin happun for Central Sahel from March 2017 reach September 2023. For 2024, about 19% of all terrorist attacks for di whole world and more dan half of all deaths wey relate to terrorism happun for di Sahel, according to di 2025 Global Terrorism Index (GTI), wey di Institute for Economics and Peace publish.
E dey hard to know how many fighters dey for JNIM or how many dem just recruit, experts dey tok say e fit reach thousands – mostly young, local men.
How dem form JNIM and wetin dem want?
Dem create JNIM for 2017 – na wen four Islamist militant groups wey dey operate for North Africa and Sahel join body: Ansar Dine, Katibat Macina, al-Mourabitoun and di Sahara branch of Al-Qaeda in di Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Na Iyad Ag Ghali, one former Malian diplomat wey come from di mostly Muslim Tuareg ethnic group, dey lead di group. E later lead Tuareg uprisings against Malian goment for 2012, wey wan create independent state for northern Mali. Dem still get one deputy leader, Amadou Koufa, wey come from di Fulani community. Analysts believe say dis central leadership dey help guide local branches of JNIM wey extend across di Sahel - network wey dey known as di 'katibat'.
JNIM dey post text and video for dia social media accounts for ChirpWire and Telegram through one media arm wey dem dey call al-Zallaqa. Di group tok say dem wan replace goment wit conservative Islamic law and governance. Dem don also tok bifor say make foreign troops comot from Mali.
Wia dem dey operate?
JNIM start for central Mali but dem don expand fast, dey claim say na dem do attacks for Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger and Ivory Coast. Di group dey active now for all di regions of Mali and 11 out of 13 regions for Burkina Faso, na wetin Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) tok.
Burkina Faso don turn di main place wia di group dey operate – mostly for di northern and eastern border areas.
From January-May 2025, JNIM claim say dem do over 240 attacks – double wetin dem do for same time for 2024, according to data wey BBC verify.
JNIM dey show say dem dey for big parts of Mali and Burkina Faso. Members of di group dey collect 'tax' from villages – dem dey call am zakat – dem dey force pipo to wear certain clothes and dem dey create roadblocks wey pipo go pay bifor dem fit enta or comot, na wetin Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst for Control Risk, one global consultancy firm tok.
Dis kain Islam fit no match di one wey local pipo dey practice, na wetin Yvan Guichaoua, senior researcher for Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, tok.
"Dis kain practice no follow wetin pipo don dey do bifor and e no too popular," im tok. "But whether pipo like am or not, e still depend on wetin goment fit provide, and many pipo don dey disappointed wit wetin goment don dey do for years."
JNIM attacks dey increase?
Di group do more dan 3000 attacks for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger last year, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) tok.
Ochieng explain say di group dey use different tactics to cause wahala. "Dem dey plant IEDs (improved explosive devices) for important roads, and dem get long-range power."
"Dem (still) dey attack security forces for military bases, so many of di weapons wey dem get na from dia. Dem don also attack civilians – especially wen dem tink say di community dey work wit goment," she add.
Attacks don turn more violent and dey happun more often for di past few months. Di group tok say na dem do one big attack for June for one Malian town wey dem dey call Boulikessi, wia 30 soldiers die, Reuters sources tok.
Reuters report say more dan 400 soldiers don die from insurgents since di start of May for military bases and towns across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, wey don shake di already unstable region wey dey see coups.
"Di number of attacks for last week na somtin we never see bifor," Guichaoua tok. "Dem don really increase wetin dem dey do recently."
Even though press freedom don reduce and many media houses – newspapers and TV stations – don close afta di coups for Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, e mean say di number of attacks wey dem fit trace to militant groups fit even pass wetin we know.
Military coups happun for Niger for 2023, Burkina Faso for 2022 and Mali for 2020.
How JNIM dey get money?
JNIM dey get money from different ways. Bifor, dem dey kidnap foreign pipo and ask for ransom and dem dey collect money from pipo wey dey pass through routes for minerals and animals.
"Cattle-rustling na one big way wey JNIM dey get money," one GI-TOC analyst wey tok to BBC yarn. Di analyst no gree make dem call im name becos e fit put am for danger. "Mali dey export plenty cattle so e easy for dem to thief animals and sell."
GI-TOC research show say for just one year and one district, JNIM make about FCFA 440 million ($768,000 USD). If we use dis figure, JNIM fit dey make millions from cattle theft.
"Gold mines na anoda big source of money, dem dey collect tax from pipo wey dey enta and comot from dia area."
U.S Africa Command oga Gen. Michael Langley tell US reporters last week say e believe say one of JNIM main goals na to control di coastline, so dat "dem fit fund dia operations through smuggling, human-trafficking and arms trade."
Wetin dey happun wit counter-insurgency?
France army bin dey help Mali goment for almost 10 years wit ova 4,000 soldiers wey dey fight groups like JNIM for di Sahel.
Even though dem get some success for 2013 and 2014, recova land from jihadist groups and kill some big commanders, e be like say dem no fit stop JNIM growth.
"Counter-insurgency neva work becos pipo dey tink say dem fit beat JNIM wit force, but na only negotiation fit end di group," GI-TOC analyst tok.
Few years ago, Sahel kontris join bodi form G5 Sahel Task Force, one 5000-man international troop. But for di past few years, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger don comot, wey don make di task force weak to fight di insurgency.
MINUSMA, di United Nations peacekeeping force – even though no be anti-terrorism force – bin dey Mali for 10 years to help, but dem comot for di kontri end of 2024.
Wetin military coups cause for JNIM?
Reports show say deaths for Sahel don triple since 2020, wen di first military coup happun for Mali. Bad governance under di military rulers for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger don make militant groups like JNIM grow, na wetin analysts tok.
Di juntas quick tell French soldiers make dem comot, and dem replace dem wit Russian support and one joint force wey di three Sahel kontris form. But now, Russian paramilitary group wey dem dey call Wagner don dey pull all dia soldiers comot from Mali.
For Burkina Faso, one army wey dem dey call 'volunteer' na one way wey dem dey use fight militants. Di president, Ibrahim Traore, don tok say e wan recruit 50,000 fighters. But experts dey tok say many of dis volunteers na by force dem take carry dem, and becos dem no train well, dem dey suffer plenty casualties.
Di military juntas demsefs don still get accusation from human rights groups say dem dey do bad tins to civilians, especially pipo from Fulani community, say dem dey work wit militia groups, wey dey prevent peace efforts.
From January 2024 reach March 2025, na state forces and dia Russian partners bin cause 1486 civilian deaths for Mali, almost five times wetin JNIM do, GI-TOC tok.
Dis kain serious violence against civilians don make pipo vex for goment, and e dey make more pipo join JNIM.
As di kontris dey struggle to stop di insurgency, pipo dey fear say JNIM go continue to spread across all di Sahel.