SUMMARY
The conflict over governmental power in Benin became active in 2022 when the al-Qaeda-affiliated group JNIM entered Benin territory. The group vastly expanded its influence across the West Africa region in 2022 when it entered both Benin and neighboring Togo to establish Sharia law as the governing system for the entire West Africa region.
In 2025, the conflict between the Government of Benin and JNIM remained active and the level of violence increased notably. The violence remained concentrated in northern Benin, particularly the Alibori and Atacora departments. In April 2025, JNIM targeted two military posts in the Alibori department, near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, resulting in the deadliest attack in Benin to date, with 54 soldiers killed. At the same time, the group expanded its area of operations carrying out attacks in the Borgou department near the Nigerian border.
Escalation of violence: Invasion of Benin
Since its formation in March 2017, when AQIM, Ansar Dine, and FLM joined forces to create the al-Qaida-affiliated alliance JNIM (Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, GSIM), the alliance expanded its aspirations to propagate jihad in all Sahelian countries. Countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger were especially hard hit by the group’s violent advances. On 1 February 2021, the French foreign intelligence chief declared that the Gulf of Guinea had become the new target of JNIM violent attacks. Subsequently, the level of violence in the Sahel escalated even further. JNIM commenced a range of attacks, including the placement of land mines, ambushes on military convoys, and assaults on military and gendarme positions in countries such as Benin and Togo.
A series of attacks against the Beninese government started taking place in February 2021. Ambushes and attacks took place in different communes of northern Benin like Karimama and Matéri, marking the start of the governmental conflict between the Government of Benin and JNIM. Since then, the level of violence witnessed a significant upsurge. JNIM initiated a diverse array of aggressive actions, involving the planting of explosive devices in the form of land mines, launching surprise attacks on military convoys, and targeting military and gendarme positions.
In January and February 2022, attacks against the Benin Armed Forces (FAB) and African Parks Networks (APN) installations along Benin’s Park northern borders increased with the specific targeting of installations used by both institutions (FAB and APN). The goal appeared to be to diminish the Beninese capacity to threaten the Burkinabe bases under JNIM's control. Similarly, there was an attack at Point Triple against an APN convoy, a carefully planned and targeted operation, which sent a clear message to African Parks officials to steer clear of Burkina Faso.
Throughout the year, several more instances of violence occurred between JNIM fighters and army officials in both Karimama and Matéri communes. The 25-battle-related deaths threshold was reached in October 2022 when army officials killed eight JNIM fighters as they tried to enter Beninese territory from Burkina Faso.
