Archam clashes

The border region between Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger has been a hotbed of violence between the aforementioned governments and jihadist groups, most notably Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, which is aligned with Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. While JNIM and ISGS only gained prominence in the region in the late 2010s, the Malian government, backed by French Operation Barkhane, had been fighting Islamist groups in the region since the outbreak of the Mali War in 2012. In 2020, French-backed president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was deposed in a coup. A year later, the 2020 junta leader, Bah Ndaw, was deposed by a coup led by Assimi Goïta. One of Goita's actions in his rule was expelling Operation Barkhane, and bringing in the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group.^[3] French forces exited Mali on February 17, 2022, with one of their last actions in the region being an operation with the Takuba Task Force in Ménaka and Gao regions of Mali against JNIM and ISGS.^[4] Wagner Group was brought into the same areas as the Takuba Task Force was.^[3]

Prior to the clashes, around 40 civilians were killed by jihadists in clashes between JNIM and ISGS near Tessit, not far from Archam.^[5] The Islamic State managed to capture the area, and around 60 fighters from both sides were killed.^[5]