ACLED – Conflict intensifies and instability spreads beyond Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger

In 2024, the central Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger continued to experience persistent high levels of violence. These countries grapple with an entrenched jihadist insurgency that continues to expand through the activities of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel). In 2024, JNIM and IS Sahel launched a spate of high-impact or mass-casualty attacks that targeted state forces, militias, and civilians with increasing lethality. In particular, the increase in air and drone strikes, IED attacks, rocket and mortar shellings underline a clear change in combat tactics.