JNIM-ISSP clashes intensify along Burkina Faso-Mali border

Clashes between Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State affiliate in Sahel Province (ISSP) have intensified along Burkina Faso’s northern border with Mali, adding another layer to the country’s prolonged security crisis.

The rival armed groups have fought increasingly deadly battles since early September over territory, influence and access to local populations. JNIM is affiliated with al-Qaeda, while ISSP is linked to the Islamic State.

The rivalry has continued since 2019 and has spread beyond Burkina Faso. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (ACLED) has documented fighting between the groups in Niger’s Tillaberi and Dosso regions, as well as in Nigeria’s Kebbi State.

Competing accounts of battlefield losses

ISSP claimed that it killed more than 200 JNIM fighters, captured more than 30 others and seized weapons and motorcycles near Kacham. The claims have not been independently verified.

ISIL’s weekly publication, Al-Naba, separately claimed that more than 400 JNIM fighters were killed around Ganadaouri on October 9. No independent assessment has established that figure.

Photographs later published by ISSP showed what i-Sahel counted as at least 120 bodies. However, i-Sahel could not independently confirm that the bodies were victims of the reported fighting.

ACLED has recorded around 320 armed confrontations between JNIM and ISSP since the rivalry began, along with more than 2,200 fighter deaths. The figures reflect the conflict monitor’s records and do not independently validate the casualty claims made by either group.

Pressure on Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso has struggled to reassert control over parts of the country as JNIM continues to make gains against government forces. The International Crisis Group says JNIM holds extensive areas, particularly in the north, north-central region, west and east.

JNIM has also maintained operations in neighbouring Mali and Niger. ACLED reported that the group carried out more than 30 attacks in Burkina Faso during a February offensive against the military and state-backed Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. More than 120 soldiers, forest guards and militia fighters were reportedly killed during that offensive, according to ACLED.

Heni Nsaibia of ACLED said the fighting with ISSP was forcing JNIM to redirect fighters and resources from its broader campaign against government forces and allied militias in Mali and Burkina Faso.

That diversion could provide Burkina Faso’s authorities with temporary relief, but it remains unclear whether the rivalry will lead to lasting government gains.

Regional and humanitarian consequences

Viraj Pattni, a senior associate at Castor Vali, said JNIM’s expanding operations could increase the threat to countries along the Gulf of Guinea.

“The threat of Islamist militancy spreading to coastal countries is very real,” Pattni said.

He said JNIM had expanded the intensity of its operations in western and southern Mali over the past 24 months and established at least one training camp in Mali’s Sikasso Region, near the border with Ivory Coast. Pattni also linked the group’s activity in Burkina Faso’s Est Region to expanded operations in Togo and Benin in 2025.

Burkina Faso’s conflict has displaced millions of people and disrupted access to farmland, markets and basic services. United Nations humanitarian planning figures estimate that 4.5 million people in the country will need humanitarian assistance in 2026.

The last consolidated official estimate cited for internal displacement was approximately 2.1 million people, published in March 2023, and should not be treated as a current 2026 figure.

For communities in the borderlands, the conflict between the two armed groups has created a complicated possibility: reduced pressure if the rivals weaken one another, but continued danger as fighting spreads. An anonymous citizen of Niger said families in the Tillaberi region hoped to work their fields, travel safely and raise their children without fearing attacks from either group.