Jihadist attacks early last month in Mali's west included an assault on Diboli, a border community less than 500 metres from the town of Kidira in Senegal.
The attacks were claimed by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic initials JNIM, which analysts say has ambitions to expand into Senegal.
Senegal's National Gendarmerie said in a post on Facebook it had opened new units in Tambacounda, Kedougou and Saraya in ceremonies this week conducted by the minister of the armed forces, General Birame Diop.
The new units are meant to address "cross-border crime, trafficking of all kinds, and the many security challenges specific to this part of the country", the post said.
It added that their creation reflects "the will of the senior authorities to guarantee the protection of populations and property as well as the security of the territory".
Among the new units are an investigation brigade in Tambacounda, a rapid action group for surveillance and intervention plus a gendarmerie company in Saraya and a gendarmerie legion in Kedougou.
Diop "emphasized the need to establish a climate of trust with the population for better collaboration", according to the Facebook post.
Jihadist groups have recruited members in the Sahel by playing on populations' sense of marginalisation, with JNIM being particularly active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Senegalese officials recently imposed a nighttime ban on motorcycles in the eastern Bakel region, which stretches along the border, after jihadists used motorbikes in their attacks in Mali, including in Diaboli.
Jihadists kill 'dozens' of soldiers and civilians in Burkina Faso
Abidjan (AFP) Aug 1, 2025 -
Two jihadist attacks in northeastern Burkina Faso early this week killed "several dozens" of soldiers and civilians, two security sources and a local source told AFP on Friday.
In a "major" attack carried out on Monday, a military unit in the village of Dargo was targeted by "armed terrorist groups", leaving "several dozens of deaths on each side", one of the regional security sources said.
The other security source told AFP that jihadists waged a second attack on Monday, on a supply convoy going between the towns of Dori and Gorom-Gorom.
"In that ambush, several soldiers were killed, along with civilians, notably truck drivers transporting supplies," said the source.
A manager in a road haulage company confirmed the convoy attack, and said that "some 20 drivers and their apprentices were killed".
The attack on the military base was on Tuesday claimed by the JNIM, an armed Islamist militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that is active also in Mali and Niger. The group indicated it had killed 40 Burkinabe soldiers.
The JNIM has risen to become the most influential jihadist threat in the Sahel region, according to the United Nations.
Burkina Faso has been plagued by attacks by the JNIM and the Islamic State group since 2015.
Wamaps, a group of West African journalists specialising in Sahel security issues, said the attack on the Dargo base was one of the deadliest attacks against Burkina's military "in recent weeks".
In a post on X, the Wamaps group cited local sources as saying that around 50 soldiers were killed.
In the convoy attack, "nearly 200 terrorists" from the Islamic State group in the Sahel were believed to have taken part, the group said, adding that "some 15 escort soldiers were killed and more than 10 drivers executed".
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