Jihadist groups in the Sahel region are arming themselves largely through looting their countries' own military stockpiles, new research reveals, debunking theories that jihadists are being supplied by foreign weapons pipelines such as France.
The latest report by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) found that Salafi jihadist groups had no unique weapon supply sources and rely on local, predatory acquisition methods just like other regional armed actors.
At least 20 percent of the weapons used by Salafi jihadist groups in the Sahel had been seized from regular armies of eight North and West African countries, researchers found.
The weapons were seized during attacks on national forces, particularly in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, the European research body found. Researchers also identified weapons that originally belonged to forces in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Libya, Nigeria and Chad.
This kind of military looting, the report says, is the main source of weapons for groups like JNIM (the al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the support of Islam and Muslims) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
Researchers describe the tactic as a "key element" of the jihadists’ dual strategy of undermining state authority while arming themselves through direct confrontation.
JNIM regularly promotes such a method in its propaganda, publishing videos showcasing its captured "war trophies".
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Researchers analysed more than 700 weapons – including rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars – recovered during counterterrorism operations between 2015 and 2023.
Nearly all the weapons and ammunition were acquired locally due to geographic and logistical limitations.
Older weapons, when not seized from state forces, were often passed between illicit actors in the region while newer arms were acquired "mainly, if not exclusively," through direct attacks on Sahelian armed forces.
Little evidence of foreign arms pipelines
The report found "no evidence that the groups are able to access weapons directly from outside of the central Sahel, or that they have established supply sources distinct from those available to other illicit armed actors in the region".
This debunks the idea that either al-Qaeda or the Islamic State are supplying weapons to Sahel-based jihadist groups directly. It also undermines online conspiracy theories claiming that foreign powers – particularly France – are arming the fighters.
Should Niger's coup heighten fears over terrorism in the Sahel?
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have all experienced military coups since 2020, as well as the associated withdrawal of international security forces, including the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2023.
The three countries all severed military ties with longstanding partners, including France, to form a cooperation pact in September 2023 known as the Alliance of Sahel States. In January this year they officially withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
