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Hannah Rae Armstrong

Beyond Jihadism: Security Concerns along Senegal’s Border with Mali

Megatrends Policy Brief 46, 11.03.2026, 12 Pages

doi:10.18449/2026MTA-PB46

In 2025, JNIM's advance into Mali's Kayes region brought extremist violence close to Senegal's eastern border. But while the JNIM threat looms large in national and international policymaking circles, local concerns are less heeded, writes Hannah Rae Armstrong.

In 2025, the jihadist group JNIM advanced into Mali’s Kayes region, bringing extremist violence to the eastern border of Senegal, also affecting social life and economic activities in the Tambacounda region. On 5 November 2025, Issa Traoré (centre) and Madassa Kébé (right) can be seen carrying peanut plants on a farm in the area. They had moved there from Mali in order to pursue farming.

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