In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis Group’s deputy Sahel director Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim to discuss a major wave of coordinated attacks by the al-Qaeda affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Tuareg rebels across Mali. They examine how the offensive unfolded, including the killing of Mali’s defence minister and the fall of the strategic northern city of Kidal. They discuss the nature of the renewed cooperation between JNIM and Tuareg separatists, JNIM’s goals and evolving tactics, and what the attacks mean for the junta’s hold on power and Russia’s role as Bamako’s security partner. They also look at how, on one side, the Burkina Faso and Niger military authorities and, on the other, coastal West African states are responding amid strained relations between the Sahel’s military-led governments and ECOWAS and consider where the crisis may be headed.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

For more, check out our report “Understanding JNIM’s Expansion Beyond” and our Mali page.