TERRORIST GROUPS
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)
( AS OF MAY 2026 )
OVERVIEW
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is a Salafi violent extremist organization that aligns itself with al-Qa‘ida’s global violent extremist ideology and exploits local divisions and grievances to grow its support in West Africa. It formed in March 2017, when four Mali-based extremist groups—Ansar al-Din, al-Murabitun, the Macina Liberation Front (MLF), and the Sahara Emirate subgroup of al-Qa‘ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—announced that they had merged, formalizing cooperation among them. The leader of JNIM, Iyad ag Ghali, pledged the group’s allegiance to the amir of AQIM, to the amir of al-Qa‘ida, and to the leader of the Taliban.
JNIM seeks to build a Salafi-Islamist state in West Africa and to expel Western influences from the region. Ghali has stated that JNIM’s strategy is to expand its presence across West Africa and train militants to fight against the group’s enemies while appeasing local communities by giving them material resources and signing local agreements.
OPERATING AREA
Primarily based in Mali and Burkina Faso; active across much of West Africa, including parts of Niger, Nigeria, and coastal West Africa
MEMBERS
At least 6,000
TACTICS AND TARGETS
JNIM regularly attacks local security forces and their foreign military partners in West Africa as well as local and foreign civilians in the region. It exploits a lack of economic opportunities as well as ethnic and social divisions among the populace in northern and central Mali and neighboring regions to facilitate recruitment and build its influence. It funds itself by ransoming captives, taxing locals, smuggling weapons, and extorting human and drug traffickers. JNIM was the world’s second deadliest terror group in 2025, accounting for more than 1,200 deaths across four countries, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.
TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated JNIM as a foreign terrorist organization in 2018. In 2013, the US designated Ghali as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
KEY LEADERS
Iyad ag Ghali
Amir; has led the group since its formation
Amadou Kouffa
A deputy to Ghali; founding member of JNIM; founder and amir of MLF
Jafar Dicko
JNIM deputy leader in Burkina Faso
NOTABLE ATTACKS
25 April 2026
Malian military facilities throughout Mali
JNIM and the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, a Tuareg separatist group, conduct coordinated attacks across Mali. They capture Kidal and target military locations in and around Bamako and several other cities in northern and central Mali.
September – November 2025
Malian fuel import blockade
JNIM persistently attacks Malian fuel import convoys, causing widespread fuel shortages in Bamako and throughout the country.
26 September 2025
Emirati hostage, Bamako, Mali
JNIM kidnaps a member of the UAE royal family near Bamako. It later releases him for a ransom.
11 May 2025
Djibo city, Burkina Faso
JNIM operatives seize control of the regional capital in northern Burkina Faso for approximately 9 hours and kill dozens of soldiers and civilians.
17 September 2024
Military facilities, Bamako, Mali
JNIM operatives attack several military facilities in and around the city and at Mobido Keita International Airport.
24 August 2024
Barsalogho town, Sangatenga province, Mali
Dozens of JNIM operatives kill at least 130 civilians and wound 200 more in Barsalogho town, Sanmatenga province.
14 April 2018
UN base near Timbuktu Airport, Mali
JNIM conducts a complex attack using rockets, mortars, VBIEDs, and attackers disguised as UN peacekeepers, resulting in one peacekeeper killed and the wounding of 17.