Jihadist group JNIM gains strength in Sahel chaos

Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked group, is expanding its hold across the Sahel by exploiting state collapse and chronic insecurity, The Guardian reports. Recent JNIM attacks on towns and military bases in Mali and Burkina Faso have gone largely unnoticed globally but reflect growing strength. Observers say JNIM has benefited less from its own capabilities than from weakened opponents, including Mali’s army and departing foreign forces.

By providing rough justice, taxing local trade, and even operating schools, JNIM has combined hard power with pragmatic governance to win loyalty in neglected communities. Analysts warn that the group’s strategy of embedding within society could further destabilize coastal West Africa. With Russian mercenaries withdrawing and Western troops gone, local militaries remain overstretched and accused of abuses, feeding radicalisation. As one expert put it, “Things are really quite bad at the moment, to say the least.”