{
  "id": "ACM-SHL-INS",
  "slug": "sahel-insurgency",
  "title": "The Sahel Insurgency",
  "url": "https://armedconflicts.org/sahel-insurgency.html",
  "status": "Active",
  "intensity": "High",
  "region": "West Africa / Sahel",
  "type": "Transnational insurgency",
  "tracked_since": "2012",
  "revision": "2026-08-05",
  "sources": [
    "ACLED",
    "UCDP",
    "CFR Global Conflict Tracker"
  ],
  "locations": [
    {
      "name": "Bamako",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 12.6392,
      "lon": -8.0029,
      "description": "Capital of Mali and seat of the military government that has led the country since a series of coups beginning in 2020."
    },
    {
      "name": "Timbuktu",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 16.7666,
      "lon": -3.0026,
      "description": "Historic northern Mali city that was blockaded by JNIM militants in 2023, cutting off fuel and food supplies to the population."
    },
    {
      "name": "Gao",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 16.2666,
      "lon": -0.05,
      "description": "Major city in northern Mali on the Niger River, a longtime hub for French, UN, and now Russian military operations in the region."
    },
    {
      "name": "Niamey",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 13.5137,
      "lon": 2.1098,
      "description": "Capital of Niger and seat of the military government installed by the 2023 coup that ended Western security cooperation with France and the United States."
    },
    {
      "name": "Ouagadougou",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 12.3714,
      "lon": -1.5197,
      "description": "Capital of Burkina Faso and seat of the military government that has governed the country since the 2022 coups."
    },
    {
      "name": "Liptako-Gourma borderlands",
      "type": "border",
      "lat": 14.9,
      "lon": 0.5,
      "description": "Tri-border region where Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger meet, the epicenter of the JNIM and Islamic State Sahel Province insurgencies and a large share of global terrorism-related deaths."
    },
    {
      "name": "Markoye",
      "type": "city",
      "lat": 14.9333,
      "lon": 0.0667,
      "description": "Northern Burkina Faso town near the Malian and Nigerien borders that has repeatedly been the site of attacks attributed to Islamic State Sahel Province."
    },
    {
      "name": "Diffa",
      "type": "border",
      "lat": 13.3154,
      "lon": 12.6113,
      "description": "Southeastern Niger city near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border, at the intersection of the Sahel insurgency and the Boko Haram/ISWAP conflict."
    }
  ],
  "revision_history": [
    {
      "date": "2026-08-05",
      "change": "Headlines refreshed",
      "source": "News feed"
    }
  ]
}