As we eagerly await Aimen’s return to Conflicted next week, today Wassim Nasr returns to the show. As only Wassim can, he draws on his expertise of the Sahel to explain the remarkable events in Mali over the past several weeks — events which Aimen forecast on the show back in January.

Wassim explains:

• France’s failed counterterrorism strategy in Mali
• JNIM’s emergence from AQIM and local insurgencies
• Iyad Ag Ghaly’s political and jihadist leadership
• The junta’s repression and strategic miscalculations
• The JNIM–FLA alliance in northern Mali
• The 25 April 2026 coordinated attacks
• Negotiating with Islamists after the War on Terror

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

Produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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