The Surprising Suspects Behind an Islamist Ambush

Terrorist attacks in sub-Saharan Africa are relatively common but are rare rarely covered in Western media. The exception is, of course, when those attacks begin to affect Western countries such as an armed assault did Oct. 5 in Niger. Eight people, including four U.S. military personnel were killed in the incident. Though no group has claimed the attack, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was carried out by fighters from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahel (ISGS). But though branches of the Islamic State, including ISGS, tend to garner the most publicity, the greater threat to military forces, aid workers, civilians and citizens of the Sahel comes from another military group: Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). The group's Arabic name translates to "The Group to Support Islam and Muslims," but for those in the region and their Western allies it means the threat from Islamist militancy will...