OVERVIEW

ISIS-Sahel flag

ISIS-Sahel is a branch of ISIS that operates primarily in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Originally associated with the al-Qa‘ida–aligned group al-Murabitun, it broke away in 2015 to pledge allegiance to ISIS, which acknowledged it as a branch in 2022. ISIS-Sahel seeks to use violence to replace governments in the Sahel with rule by Islamic law, in line with ISIS’s strategic direction and goals.

ISIS-Sahel began conducting attacks in the Sahel in 2016. It has targeted Burkinabe, French, Malian, and Nigerien troops, and in October 2017, the group ambushed a US-Nigerien military patrol, killing four US military personnel. The group has also attacked elements of the Russian private military company Vagner that are deployed in Mali.

OPERATING AREAS
Primarily Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, with pockets of activity throughout the Sahel region of Africa

MEMBERS
Approximately 1,000 fighters as of 2022; recruits from minority ethnic groups in the Sahel

TACTICS AND TARGETS
ISIS-Sahel conducts attacks using ambushes, armed assaults, mortar attacks, roadside bombs, vehicle-borne explosives, and suicide bombers. It also engages in kidnap-for-ransom operations and has killed at least one hostage, Canadian citizen Kirk Woodman. ISIS-Sahel usually operates in mobile cells that sometimes join forces to conduct attacks. The group targets local security forces, civilians, government officials, humanitarian workers, and schools. Since 2019, the group has competed for resources and territory with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qa‘ida–affiliated group that operates in the same area.

FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated ISIS-Sahel as a foreign terrorist organization in May 2018.

KEY LEADERS

NOTABLE ATTACKS