GNV News May 18, 2025

On May 11, 2025, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate based in Mali that operates across the Sahel, carried out large-scale attacks across Burkina Faso. In the northern town of Djibo, a police station and the market were attacked. The government has not yet issued an official statement on the attack, but it has been reported that at least dozens were killed. On that day, JNIM occupied Djibo for several hours before it withdrew. There were also attacks in Loroum Province, and JNIM claims to have killed 60 soldiers. The attacks that day were the largest since August 2024 and were reportedly carried out at up to eight locations across Burkina Faso. Furthermore, on the following day, the 12th, there was also an attack in Diapaga in eastern Burkina Faso, involving destruction, arson, and the freeing of prisoners.

Burkina Faso, along with neighboring Mali and Niger, is under military rule, and the curtailment of rights and the deteriorating humanitarian situation have been worsening. The worsening security has also increased displacement, and at least 2.8 million people are currently internally displaced across these three countries.

Moreover, in recent years the areas of operation of armed groups active in the Sahel have expanded southward. JNIM in particular, operating from Burkina Faso and Niger, has increased attacks into Benin and Togo since 2021. In April 2025, JNIM carried out the largest attack in the region near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger in northern Benin, in which more than 50 soldiers were killed.

Learn more about Burkina Faso → “What is happening in Burkina Faso?”

Learn more about the situation in West Africa → “Evolving international relations in West Africa”

A building in Mopti, Mali, destroyed in a 2018 attack by armed groups (Photo: Mission de l’ONU au Mali – UN Mission in Mali / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])