Having slipped undetected into Mali's capital weeks ago, jihadis launched a coordinated attack just before dawn prayers, targeting key symbols of state power. They killed dozens of students at an elite police academy, stormed Bamako's airport, and set the presidential jet ablaze.
The September 17 assault was the most brazen in a Sahel capital since 2016, underscoring the growing capabilities of jihadist groups with ties to al-Qaida and the Islamic State. These groups, whose rural insurgencies have killed thousands and displaced millions across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, demonstrated they can strike at the heart of government.
Overshadowed by conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan, the ongoing violence in the Sahel has largely flown under the global radar. Yet, it’s driving a significant increase in migration toward Europe. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that the route with the steepest rise in migrants this year runs from West Africa’s coastal nations to Spain's Canary Islands—a trend that comes at a time when far-right, anti-immigrant sentiment is gaining traction in parts of the European Union, and border controls are tightening.
* Ynet contributed to this article.