Al Qaeda affiliate has killed dozens of civilians in Togo this year: minister
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.
Groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State have since seized territory despite costly military efforts to push them back, spreading into Burkina Faso and Niger and more recently into the north of coastal countries such as Togo.
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