Al-Qaeda affiliate claims deadly attack in Benin as Sahel conflict spills south

An al-Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for killing 70 soldiers in Benin’s northeast, marking the country’s deadliest jihadist attack to date, Arab Weekly reports, citing the SITE Intelligence Group. Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) said it launched coordinated assaults on two military posts in Alibori province, more than 500 km from the capital Cotonou. Benin’s army has yet to comment.

The attack signals the deepening spread of jihadist violence from the Sahel—where insurgencies took hold after Mali’s 2012 conflict—into West Africa’s coastal states. Benin and neighbouring Togo have faced rising threats as groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda push southward. The wider Sahel conflict has displaced millions, killed thousands, and triggered five coups across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger since 2020. Those regimes have since pivoted from traditional Western allies toward Russian support.