New report says JNIM expanding its reach and staging more attacks in the Sahel

Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel, has increased its operations in northern and central Mali, according to the latest Intel brief by the Soufan Center, a New York based research group. JNIM has been conducting more complex and concurrent attacks on military installations in Timbuktu and Boulkessi, in recent days, the report states. Timbuktu is a strategically significant target. It hosts both military bases and the Timbuktu airport, serving as a key hub for supply routes across northern Mali.