Al Qaeda affiliate has killed dozens of civilians in Togo this year

30/7/2025 6:24

A group affiliated with Al Qaeda has killed dozens of civilians and eight soldiers so far this year in Togo, the country's foreign minister told Reuters last week, in a rare official acknowledgement of the toll of rising attacks.



Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Dussey said 15 attacks in northern Togo had been perpetrated so far this year by Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region. He put the civilian death toll at 54.



Togo has seen a rise in jihadist activity in recent years, as groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda have spread from the Sahel.



A surge in attacks in May and June marked one of the deadliest periods in the Sahel's recent history, underscoring the threat posed by jihadist groups at a time when regional governments are estranged from former Western military allies, analysts say.



Violence in the region south of the Sahara started when jihadist groups hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the north of Mali in 2012.