A coalition of JNIM jihadists and Tuareg separatists ambushed a Malian army convoy leaving Anefis in the Gao region on July 18; Vanguard Nigeria reported at least 50 soldiers killed, while initial AP dispatches cited scores killed or captured, and Mali's government said a counterattack was under way

A UN assessment finds armed groups in the Sahel are no longer just launching attacks: they administer territory, control trade routes, exploit new technologies, and are extending their reach toward coastal West African states

The national assembly presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met on June 29 to advance the legislative architecture of the Alliance of Sahel States confederation, adopting a joint motion of support for Burkina Faso against a European Parliament human rights resolution

A decade-long jihadist insurgency across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, now accounting for over half of global terrorism deaths and displacing millions.

The arc of West and Central African states where military juntas displaced elected governments nine times since 2020, reshaping the Sahel's security and great-power alignments.

Al-Qaeda's Sahel coalition taxes and attacks gold sites to fund ~6,000 fighters; Niger kills 13 in mine raids aimed at drying up financing

A pre-dawn offensive on April 25-26 struck Kati, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mopti and Sévaré simultaneously; Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed by a car bomb at his Kati home

On April 25, 2026, JNIM and the Tuareg FLA launched simultaneous attacks across Bamako, Kati, Sevaré and five other towns, killing Defence Minister Sadio Camara; Russia's Africa Corps evacuated Kidal on April 26, then Tessalit and Aguelhok, ceding all major northern positions within days and delivering a direct blow to Moscow's Sahel security narrative

Al-Qaeda's Sahel affiliate has torched 300+ tankers and cut National Road 1; petrol in the capital reportedly jumped 400%, and a 1 June landmine on the Bamako-Kayes highway killed 8