Once a quiet corner of Mali, the Kayes region is now the latest target of al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which is escalating its deadly campaign across western Africa. In May alone, the group killed 850 people across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, expanding from rural ambushes to coordinated urban assaults. The recent push into Kayes, a key trade hub near Senegal, signals a shift in strategy: Where the group had been content with employing guerrilla tactics, it now appears intent on controlling territory and implementing Islamic governance across the Sahel. With increasingly advanced weaponry, multiple sources of funding, and brutal enforcement of Sharia law, JNIM grows stronger. Meanwhile, the military juntas that rule the region, weakened by severed Western ties and ineffective Russian alliances, struggle to contain the rising violence.
The Telegraph
