West Africa Risks Becoming a 1,500-Kilometer Jihadist Corridor

Extremist groups competing for territory across West Africa could turn the region into a fluid insurgency corridor spanning roughly the distance from London to Rome and spark even more violence.

West African militant groups are now increasingly converging along a swath that stretches from Mali to Nigeria, Acled, a Washington-based consultancy that tracks global crises, warned in a report released on Thursday. The surge in violence — which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions more over the past decade — cements the region’s status as the global epicenter of jihadist activity.