Al-Qaeda affiliate in Sahel stages another attack in Nigeria

The attack occurred on 22 November in Karonji village (also known as Duruma) in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda franchise in the Sahel, has carried out its second attack in Nigeria, killing two soldiers and making away with military hardwares.

The attack occurred on 22 November in Karonji village (also known as Duruma) in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The group,5 which first announced its presence in Nigeria around July, claimed its first attack on Nuku, a Kwara State village bordering the Benin Republic, in October.

Although the did not officially claim the attack via its propaganda medium, az-Zallaqah, fighters believed to be members of JNIM did in a video shared by Philip Brant, a jihadi expert with special focus on the Sahel.

The recent attack

The 22 November attack began around 3:30 a. m. when the group stormed the military position in Karonji, according to sources in the village.

“They killed two Army personnel,” a security source told PREMIUM TIMES. “They also carted away mine motorcycles and a gun truck.”

In its propaganda medium, the group said it took “full control” over the military base in the village. It also released a video showing loot from the attack.

The video, seen by our reporter, shows the seized gun truck and the motorcycles, helmets and rifles among others.

The Nigerian Army has not issued a statement about the incident. An enquiry sent to Appolonia Anele, spokesperson for the Nigerian Army had not been responded to.

JNIM’s infiltration into Nigeria

The Al-Qaeda-linked group, which has become one of the dangerous insurgents’ groups in the Sahel, was first reported to infiltrate Nigeria around 2021, when a contingent tried to connect with their brothers-in-arms, Ansaru, in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State.

The contingent, according to W Park’s internal memo, asked patrolling officials directions to Kaduna State. The park spans Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

It directly links Kainji National Park, where Ansaru, also linked to al-Qaeda, would later move to.

Both groups, according to previous reports by our reporter, have coexisted in the area, sharing intelligence and trading arms.

Leaders of Ansaru had been arrested, but remnants of the group seemed to have joined forces with JNIM, intensifying attacks on military positions and civilians.

In June, this newspaper reported that JNIM claimed an attack on Basso, a Beninese town about 15 kilometres from Babana and other communities around Niger State, where more than 200 students were abducted last week.

The JNIM was formed in March 2017 when four Mali-based extremist groups—Ansar al-Din, al-Murabitun, the Macina Liberation Front (MLF) and the Sahara Emirate subgroup of al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—merged forces.

Its campaign of terror in Sahel, especially Mali, has disrupted local economies including transportation of petroleum products.