West Africa Terror: Why Attacks On Military Bases Are Rising – And Four Ways To Respond
A Senegalese peacekeeper and a UN armoured vehicle in Mali, 2021. Amaury Hauchard/AFP via Getty Images BY OLAYINKA AJALA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY More than 40 Malian soldiers were killed and one of the country’s military bases was taken over in early June 2025 in a major attack by an al-Qaeda linked group, Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), on the town of Boulikessi. The same group launched an attack on the historic city of Timbuktu. The Malian army claimed it repelled the Timbuktu attack and killed 14 terrorists. Terrorist groups have attacked Boulikessi in large numbers before. In October 2019 , 25 Malian soldiers were killed. The target was a G5 Sahel force military camp. Timbuktu has been in the sights of terrorist groups since 2012 . JNIM laid siege to the city for several months in 2023. Timbuktu has a major airport and a key military base. In neighbouring Burkina Faso, there have been running battles i...
