It has been 10 days since the last the claimed attack in Benin, which did not have any reported casualties. It will be interesting to see how lethal this attack was, the deadly assault on the Triple Point Base seems a long time ago, but occurred on 08/01.

Despite the extensive reports from Tuareg sources this morning, evidence has yet to appear supporting claims that a helicopter was shot down.

This likely means increased conflict with government forces, but also with one another as the two jihadist groups look to gain dominance and further their influence.

The Sahel will continue as one of the main epicentres of terrorism globally for the foreseeable future. Both the Islamic State’s local branch and JNIM are both displaying the capability and intent to escalate their violence and increase their territorial control.

Consequently, we can likely expect a growing amount of manpower and resources to be diverted in this direction in the future.

Prior to this release, the Islamic State’s last lengthy feature focussed on its West Africa Province (ISWAP), underscoring the increased importance of the African arena to the group’s central leadership.

In the video, the juntas are shown, as too are political figures such as Macron, Trump, and Putin. It also condemns JNIM, rebel groups in northern Mali, and others. This reflects the local and international aims of the group, as well as the broad audience it is trying to reach.