ACCRA, GHANA (CP) – An al-Qaeda-linked militant group has significantly expanded its influence across West Africa, with intelligence officials reporting the organization now controls major territories in multiple countries while threatening regional stability and American security interests.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, known as JNIM, has grown into the most well-armed militant force in West Africa with an estimated 6,000 fighters under its command, according to regional and Western intelligence sources. The group has overrun major cities in Burkina Faso and Mali while carrying out devastating attacks on military forces in Benin during recent months. American officials report the organization has established what experts describe as a “proto-state” stretching from western Mali to the borderlands of Benin, representing a substantial expansion of extremist influence in the region.
The growing threat comes as the United States has reduced its military presence in West Africa following diplomatic tensions with regional governments. American drone operations previously conducted from Niger have been relocated outside the region, while troop levels have declined from approximately 1,400 personnel in 2025 to fewer than 200 currently stationed along coastal areas. State Department officials confirmed that senior American diplomat Will Stevens recently visited affected nations including Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin to discuss the expanding presence of violent extremist organizations. However, the Trump administration has discontinued the majority of programs under the Global Fragility Act, which aimed to strengthen stability in vulnerable West African nations.
Regional security experts warn that JNIM’s expansion threatens American national security interests and stable partner nations including Ghana, Senegal and Guinea. The organization finances its operations through illegal mining, cattle theft, kidnapping networks and taxation of local communities under its control. Military officials from neighboring countries report growing concern about the group’s sophisticated weapons capabilities, which include machine guns, drones and anti-aircraft systems captured from defeated government forces. The Institute for Economics & Peace found that 51 percent of global terrorism deaths occurred in the Sahel region last year, highlighting the escalating security crisis that could impact broader international stability and American strategic interests in Africa.