Ivory Coast Cautious Over Jihadist Threat in the North, 10 Years After Major Attack

On March 13, 2016, three gunmen opened fire on three nearby hotels on the beach in the historic town of Grand Bassam, 25 miles east of Abidjan. The 45-minute attack killed 19 people, including nine foreigners, shocking the nation. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility, saying it was retaliation for Ivory Coast's arrest of its members and their extradition to Mali. It was not until December 2022 that a court in Abidjan sentenced 11 people to death, including seven in absentia, for involvement in the attack.

Defense Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara declared at the 10th anniversary ceremony in March: “Our forces have increased operational vigilance to ensure such tragedies never happen again.” Grand Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the country's first capital, now lies on a relatively peaceful three-hour drive to the Ghana border, with resort towns serving locals and tourists.

However, in the north, along the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, the jihadist threat simmers. Both neighboring countries have expelled French and U.S. troops in recent years after military coups, shifting toward closer cooperation with Russia. Ivory Coast, a key Western ally in regional counterinsurgency, serves as a buffer between the Gulf of Guinea and the central Sahel. Violence in neighboring countries has driven thousands of refugees into its north.

At the time of the 2016 attack, the insurgency was just emerging in Burkina Faso as a spillover from Mali. Jihadist-related terrorist incidents in coastal West Africa have nearly tripled as non-state armed groups increase. Military formations and security personnel in the region are consistently targeted by Al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which absorbed AQIM. In June 2020, Katiba Macina, another group within the JNIM alliance, killed 14 Ivorian soldiers in the village of Kafolo near the Burkina Faso border.

Héni Nsaibia, a senior West Africa analyst at conflict monitor Acled, said these groups are beginning to use more sophisticated tactics, becoming adept at complex attacks in what is now “the world’s most active theater of jihadist militancy.” He added: “JNIM’s use of armed drones has rapidly increased from fewer than 10 recorded attacks in 2024 to around 80 in 2025.”

Since the Kafolo attack, the number of police and gendarmerie recruited in northern Ivory Coast has more than doubled. Five years ago, an EU-backed counterterrorism academy opened in Jacqueville, a coastal town west of Abidjan, where elite units train to face the evolving threat. A government spokesman did not respond to questions about the status of negotiations regarding a U.S. drone base or U.S. troops sharing an existing air base with Ivorian partners.

Bolstered by international development funding, the state is also active in remote border villages in the north: building primary schools, deploying mobile health clinics, and funding vocational micro-loans for young cashew farmers who might be tempted by financial promises from militant groups. However, dense forests and porous borders remain concerns. The government spokesman also did not answer questions about regional and international counterinsurgency cooperation.

In Grand Bassam, three hotels have closed. Nearby, Rose Ebirim continues her beach pollution awareness activities and a reggae festival now in its sixth year. She said: “I keep myself busy with those. After 10 years, I'm starting to get my life back together.”