Drone Statecraft: Turkey’s Expanding Security Footprint in Africa
As Jihadist fighters continue to wreak havoc with a series of simultaneous attacks on military posts across numerous towns in Mali, the Junta government—with its limited capacity and international support—is scrambling to prevent the threat of an imminent Islamist takeover. Since 2012, several jihadist groups, most notably the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), have been fighting Malian security forces.
In 2020 and 2021, Mali’s Junta seized power through two successive coups. Yet, the security crisis has only exacerbated. While the see-saw battle continues, the Junta government, desperate to shift the tide, has turned increasingly to Turkish drones in a bid to regain control.
In fact, Mali is not alone in its use of Turkish drones; its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger—both members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—have also deployed these drones to combat rebel groups in their territories. In July 2024, through a series of drone strikes on rebel camps of the Permanent Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA), the Malian Army eliminated at least 20 armed fighters. In November 2023, the security forces of Burkina Faso successfully neutralised an attack by approximately 3,000 terrorists in the town of Djiba.