How this African region became the hub of global jihad

For two decades, the world's war on jihadism has been told through the ruins of Kabul, the streets of Mosul and the deserts of Syria. Yet while global attention remained fixed on the Middle East, the centre of gravity quietly shifted thousands of kilometres to the south. Today, it is not Iraq or Afghanistan but the vast, overlooked Sahel that has become the deadliest theatre of Islamist militancy. Here, extremist groups are no longer simply carrying out hit-and-run attacks; they are blockading capitals, governing villages, exploiting climate crises, toppling fragile states and outlasting foreign armies. Coups have redrawn political maps, Western powers have retreated, Russian mercenaries have moved in, and millions of civilians have found themselves trapped in a conflict that rarely commands international attention. The rise of global jihad's new epicentre did not happen overnight, nor was it inevitable.