Following intense protests against widespread government corruption and a deterioriating security apparatus, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was ousted last week in an apparent military coup. The coup has since drawn widespread international...
Recent attacks by Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara—local affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIS—against one another is punctuating a security breakdown in West Africa, a region already challenged by...
Violence amongst ethnic groups in Mali has sparked concern from human rights campaigners. The country experienced its deadliest year for civilians in 2019 since Mali’s political and military crisis in 2012. Jihadists from al-Qaeda and ISIS have been...
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler quoted regarding the deteriorating situation in Mali.
Analysts with the Counter Extremism Project recently warned that a JNIM victory in Mali could make it the first country ruled by al-Qaida. Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, believes a JNIM victory could result in indirect rule instead.
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) said the militants have captured large amounts of weaponry from government forces and now use drones in attacks. The Malian army, supported by Russian paramilitary fighters under Moscow’s “Africa Corps,” has carried out helicopter strikes and patrols, claiming to have killed dozens of insurgents. But attacks continue to spread across central and southern Mali, leaving garrisons isolated and deepening shortages. JNIM, which declared allegiance to al Qaeda in 2017, has been active across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Its recent advances have heightened fears of regional contagion.
The militants have seized large amounts of weaponry from government forces and demonstrated their ability to use drones, says the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which analyzes terrorist groups.
On June 6, 2025, the notorious Russia-backed Wagner Group announced their imminent withdrawal from Mali. Operating in the Sahelian country for three and a half years, the private military company (PMC) has faced its fair share of criticism from the...
A new report from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), written by research analyst Riza Kumar, exposes the repercussions of deploying civilian counterterrorism militias in Mali, Niger, and Mozambique in response to the severe threat of Islamic...
At dawn September 17, 2024, the Malian capital of Bamako witnessed one of the most brazen terrorist attacks seen in recent years. Armed gunmen first stormed a barracks of the gendarmerie in the south of the capital and subsequently attacked the...
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