The Sahel’s terror surge signals a new front in global security

On the night of June 20, 2025, the Nigerien village of Manda became the stage for one of the deadliest massacres in the Sahel in recent memory. As dozens of worshippers gathered at a mosque for evening prayers, militants from the Islamic State’s Sahel Province encircled the village and opened fire without pause. Bullets tore through the congregation, killing at least 71 men, women, and children and wounding dozens more.

Survivors later recalled the horror of lying motionless beneath the bodies of neighbors and relatives to avoid being shot, while houses were torched and families scattered in the chaos.

The bloodshed was not only an assault on a remote community in Tillabéri, but a stark signal of how deeply jihadist violence has penetrated this once quiet borderland.

Read more at The Cipher Brief