Description: Official spokesperson for the Malian Army, Souleymane Dembele, has stated that insurgent forces launched simultaneous attacks on several military outposts as armed confrontations resulted in the elimination of approximately 80 militants. Al – Qaeda affiliated Jama ‘at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack while denouncing the assessments from the army spokesperson by stating that several members of the armed forces were killed in the confrontations. The attacks add to the insurgency wave which has encircled the Sahel region where the Islamic State, Al – Qaeda and other militant and extremist groups are fighting for territorial control and access to key natural resources hotspots and illegal arms trading routes.
Impact: The Sahel region remains a terrorist flashpoint with attacks from various militant groups significantly destabilizing countries such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. The junta governments continue to face mounting pressure from influential and at times overwhelming forces from the terrorist groups in maintaining territorial control of key strategic points. The terrorist groups clashing with the military are aiming at controlling larger portions of territory where the exploration of natural resources is active as well as gaining control over the coastal areas of the West African region which would enable them with access to key illegal trading routes, for shipping arms and illegally selling rare earth minerals. Government forces are having evident difficulties in countering the attacks which signals a prolonged security crisis in the region where the most influential foreign actor in Russia, is gradually reducing its footprint. The region would continue suffering from severe disorder and chaos which would impose the possibility of other regional and global players to insert themselves as security guarantors in return for access to the region’s vast natural resources potential.