The Trump administration is reportedly considering military action against an al-Qaeda-linked group in Mali, which would be the eighth country targeted by the president since he returned to office last year.
The administration is weighing strikes against Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks and kidnappings since its formation in 2017. The group, allied with al-Qaeda, has increasingly attacked nearby West African nations, including a lethal assault at an airport in Niger’s capital last month, while terrorising Mali’s interior with fuel blockades and sieges.
If approved, the attacks would add to a growing list of nations and international waterways bombed by the US military since 2025. The president has previously ordered strikes in Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, in addition to killing more than 200 people on alleged drug-running boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Mali, one of the largest gold-producing nations in Africa, is part of an alliance of military-controlled governments including Burkina Faso and Niger that have largely cut Western ties and turned to Russian forces for security help after recent military coups ousted their democratically elected leaders. Among administration figures reportedly pushing for military strikes in Mali is Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
The White House did not confirm whether the president is weighing military action. An administration official told The Independent that it hopes the Alliance of Sahel States “prevails against terrorism, but the blame for the deteriorating security situation falls upon Russia who has proven to be an ineffective security partner for Mali.” The administration is urging alliance governments and other coastal West African governments to purchase US equipment and services “to support their war efforts against the terrorists.”
Mali’s junta-controlled government and Russian mercenaries are struggling to combat JNIM and other militant groups. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (ACLED), while JNIM and militant groups are believed responsible for at least 232 civilian deaths last year, Mali’s military and Russian mercenaries were responsible for 925 civilian deaths.
