Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (Arabic: جماعة نصرة الإسلام والمسلمين, JNIM; French: Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux musulmans, GSIM;[9] lit.

[15] JNIM is a coalition of Salafi Jihadist[10][11][12] organisations in West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front, al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat).

Maychou was a native of Morocco who had claimed responsibility for a JNIM attack on a military camp that housed Malian troops in Gao, killing dozens.

On 29 March 2021, a force of about 100 members raided a camp of UN Peacekeepers in Northern Mali, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the Algerian border.

Initial reports suggested that approximately 20 of the jihadists had been killed, a number that was later revised to 40, including Abdallaye Ag Albaka.

[24] From 2017 to 2023, JNIM was responsible for more than half of violent events across the Sahel region, notably due to increased capabilities in using roadside bombs, mortars, landmines and rockets.

On 26 April 2021, David Beriáin, Roberto Fraile and Rory Young were killed following an ambush by the JNIM on their convoy in eastern Burkina Faso, near the Benin border.

[30] JNIM claimed in July 2024 a "complex ambush" had wiped out a convoy during the Battle of Tinzaouaten, killing 50 Russians and a number of Malian soldiers, and published videos showing several vehicles ablaze as well as dozens of bodies in the area.

[31] On 25 August 2024, JNIM launched a major attack on people given the responsibility of digging trenches for the protection of security outposts in the region of Barsalogho, Burkina Faso, killing at least 600 soldiers and civilians.

[34][35] The Center for Strategic and International Studies describes JNIM as "an al Qaeda-affiliated Salafi-jihadist insurgent organization that seeks to replace established state authority with a conservative interpretation of Islamic law.