How Al Qaeda became one of Africa’s deadliest radical organizations

Al Qaeda member Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is the main group of radical jihadist attacks that have swept several West African countries, especially Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The group said on July 1 that it had conducted a major coordinated attack on seven people Military locations in western Mali, including the border between Senegal and Mauritania.

There is growing concern about the possible impact of JNIM on stability in the region.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have been working to control violence – one of the factors that have experienced multiple military coups in the three Sahel countries over the past five years.

But like the civilian governments they replaced, the military government cannot seem to stop the growing threat of jihad, especially Jnim.

JNIM has become one of the deadliest jihadist organizations in Africa in just a few years.

It was formed in Mali in 2017 and is a coalition of five jihadist militants:

• ansar yours
• Katibat Macina
• Al-Mourabitoun
• Ansar al-Visalam
• Al Qaeda’s Sahara branch in Islamic Maghreb

The groups began to collaborate after the French military pushed back several jihadist and separatist groups operating in northern Mali in 2012. Eventually, leaders of these groups came together to create JNIM.

In recent years, they have expanded geographically and established new areas of operations.

Jnim is led by former Malian diplomat Iyad Ag Ghali and belongs to the Tuareg ethnic group. He was in control of the Tuareg uprising against the Mali government in 2012, which attempted to establish an independent state of the Tuareg people called Azawad. Deputy leader Amadou Koufa comes from the Fulani community.

Analysts believe central leadership helps guide local branches operating in the Sahel region of West Africa.

While it is difficult to know exactly how many fighters are in the JNIM rankings, or how many combatants have been recruited recently, experts believe it may be thousands – most of them young men and boys who lack other economic opportunities in one of the poorest areas in the world.

The group rejected the power of the Sahel government in an attempt to strictly interpret Islam and Sharia law in the areas where it operates.

Analysts say that in some areas, JNIM is well-known to impose strict dress codes, bans on music and smoking, ordering men to grow beards and preventing women from being in public places only.

This version of Islam may conflict with the religion practiced by local communities, said Yvan Guichaoua, a senior researcher at the Bonn Center for International Conflict Research.

“These practices have obviously gotten rid of the established practices and are certainly not very popular,” he said.

“But whether it is attractive or not, it also depends on what the state can provide and what the state has been doing over the past few years.”

Disillusionment of the secular justice system can lead to the introduction of Sharia courts to appeal to certain people.

In the beginning in central and northern Mali, JNIM quickly expanded its influence. Although its strongholds are located in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Janim also carried out attacks on Benin, Togo and the Ivory Coast.

According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), it is operational across Mali, in 13 regions of Burkina Faso.

Last year, Brkina Faso has become the center of the organization’s activities – mainly the northern and eastern border areas. Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at security consultancy control risks, said that this was partly due to the division and defection of the country’s military and the deep burial of militants in local communities.

“JNIM has the ability to embed local communities or be able to use local complaints as a means of recruiting or winning sympathy for their cause,” she told the BBC.

According to an analysis by the BBC Monitor’s jihad media team, violence has increased previously invisible levels in Burkina Faso in recent months. Recently, major attacks have also been carried out in Mali, Niger and Benin.

According to data verified by the BBC, JNIM said in the first half of 2025 that it had conducted more than 280 attacks in Burkina Faso – twice the figure in the same period in 2024.

BBC monitoring data shows that since April, the group claimed to have killed nearly 1,000 people across the Sahel, most of whom are members of security forces or militia fighting with government forces.

Nearly 800 of them are only in Burkina Faso. Mali was the second highest casualties (117) and Benin (74).

“The frequency of attacks in June so far is unheard of,” said Mr Guichaoua. “They have indeed stepped up their activities over the past few weeks.”

Ms Ochieng explained that militants used various strategies to cause the greatest damage.

“They planted explosive (easy explosive devices) on critical roads and had remote capabilities.

“They (also) targeted security forces, so many of their weapons came from. They also attacked civilians – and in what is believed to be working with the government, they also attacked civilians.”

According to the latest GI-TOC report, Starlink is a company owned by Elon Musk, which also leverages the internet through groups such as JNIM to enhance its capabilities.

The company provides high-speed internet, with regular mobile networks unavailable or unreliable.

G-toch said militant groups smuggled star-striped link equipment to the country along good prohibited routes.

An analyst at GI-TOC told the BBC: “Starlink makes it easier for (aggressive organizations) to plan and execute attacks, share intelligence, recruit members, conduct financial transactions, and even keep in touch with commanders during active conflicts.”

The BBC has contacted Starlink for comment.

The group has a variety of revenue sources.

Once in Mali, funds were raised through ransoms of kidnap foreigners, but the country rarely remained in the country due to the worsening security situation.

An analyst at GI-TOC said it has become a major source of revenue. They don’t want to be named because it could risk Mali’s security.

“Mali is a big exporter of cattle, so it’s easy for them to steal animals and sell them,” analysts said.

GI-TOC research shows that Jnim earned $770,000 (£570,000) from livestock in a year in just one area of ​​Mali. Based on this number, JNIM could make millions of dollars from stealing livestock.

According to experts, JNIM also imposes various taxes.

“They tax gold, but basically everything that goes through its territory, whether it’s listed goods or illegal goods,” Gi-Toc said.

“There can be a ransomware type tax, and JNIM tells citizens that they need to pay in exchange for protection.”

According to Ms Ochieng, militants are also known to lockdown and people have to pay to leave and enter the area.

French armed forces have provided nearly a decade of support to the government of Mali on the ground – among more than 4,000 soldiers stationed in combat groups in the Sahel region, these soldiers and the ISIS and the Greater Sahara.

Despite their initial successes in 2013 and 2014, regaining territory from militants and killing several senior commanders did not stop Jnim from growing up.

“So far, efforts to counter-insurgency have failed because of the idea that JNIM can be beaten up by military but can only be ended through negotiations,” GI-TOC analysts advised.

In 2014, the Sahelian countries united to form the G5 Sahel contingent of 5,000 international forces. However, over the past few years, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have withdrawn, undermining the task force’s ability to resolve the rebellion.

The United Nations peacekeeping force Minusma has also been supporting efforts in Mali for a decade, but by the end of 2024, the country left the country.

The military coup was held in Mali in 2020 and 2021, with Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023.

According to analysts, under the rule of the military junta in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, radical groups like James were later allowed to flourish.

The military governments quickly told the French army to leave, replacing them with Russian support and a joint force composed of three Sahel countries.

Although Russian paramilitary group Wagner has completely withdrawn troops from Mali, the Kremlin-controlled paramilitary group African Legion will remain in place.

In Burkina Faso, a so-called “volunteer” army was launched in 2020 before military takeover, a strategy used to fight militants. Government leader Ibrahim Traoré said he wanted to recruit 50,000 fighters.

But experts say many of these volunteers were summoned by force. Inadequate training means they often suffer serious casualties. They are usually also targeted by JNIM attacks.

The military junta in Burkina Faso and Mali have also been accused of atrocities against civilians, especially the Fulani people. Human rights groups say the government often confuses the Fulani community with Islamic armed groups, which further hinders peace efforts.

According to GI-TOC, between January 2024 and March 2025, the military government and its Russian allies caused 1,486 civilian casualties in Mali.

This extreme violence against civilians aroused the government’s anger and fueled further recruitment of JNIM.