The Sahel

Last updated: 28 March 2025

An aerial photo shows the town of Konna in central Mali on 20 March 2021. Malian Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and his delegation visited the town to attend the inauguration of the new river port which was destroyed by bombing during the war in 2013. Photo by MICHELE CATTANI/AFP via Getty Images

What began as an outbreak of violence in Mali in 2012 turned into a regional conflict that has spanned more than a decade. The central Sahelian states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are at the center of a regional jihadist insurgency that has resulted in insecurity and instability in the region driven by a diverse range of armed groups. Successive military interventions, including initiatives such as the French Operation Serval, which evolved into the counter-terrorism mission Operation Barkhane, as well as the United Nations peacekeeping mission MINUSMA and the G5 Sahel Force, have failed to achieve lasting stability. The central Sahelian countries consistently rank high on ACLED’s Conflict Index due to high levels of violence across the region.

In Focus: Armed Groups

Analysis & Reports

ACLED Specialists

Armed Groups in the Sahel

The transnational conflict in the Sahel has been driven by an array of armed actors cooperating, competing, and operating independently of one another. Groups including Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel, and the Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel) are also prominent in the regional jihadist insurgency. While violence involving insurgent groups and militants are a driving factor for regional insecurity, the situation is further complicated by the proliferation of armed groups, including various communal, ethnic, and self-defense militias like the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP); state forces; and other actors like mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

GettyImages-1236409320 — A detachment of anti-jihadist Special Forces of Operation Almahaou patrol the Tillaberi region of western Niger on 6 November 2021. The region has been targeted by suspected jihadists since the beginning of 2021. Photo by BOUREIMA HAMA/AFP via Getty Images

Actor Profiles

Analysis & Reports

Q&A | 11 February 2025

Q&A: Is the Islamic State Sahel Province kidnapping more foreigners?

After more than a decade of protracted conflict in the central Sahel, insecurity continues to spread both within the region and beyond its borders. Q&A with ACLED’s West Africa Senior Analyst Héni Nsaibia.

Q&A | 21 August 2024

Q&A: The Wagner Group’s new life after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin

How has Russian mercenary activity in Africa been affected by the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin on 23 August 2023 and the subsequent formation of Africa Corps? Q&A with ACLED’s Africa Africa Senior Analyst, Ladd Serwat and West Africa Senior Analyst, Héni Nsaibia.