The Group for Support of Islam & Muslims (GSIM, or JNIM by its Arabic rendering), al-Qaeda's West African franchise, has claimed credit for an assault on Togolese forces that left at least 17 soldiers dead outside Tiwoli, a village close to the borders with Burkina Faso and Benin. In a brief online communique, JNIM said its "mujahedeen killed 16 tyrants, burned two cars, and captured 16 Kalashnikovs, 24 rifle magazines, and five motorcycles." Togolese media reported that fighters in large columns of vehicles mounted with heavy machine-guns raided the military outpost at Tiwoli on Nov. 24.

This is the second such claim of responsibility for an attack in Togo by JNIM in the last two weeks. On Nov. 19, the Qaeda affiliate took credit for an assault on a Togolese military position near Sankortchagou, also in Togo's northeastern Kpendjal prefecture (Savanes region). That assault left two soldiers wounded.

JNIM has now claimed three attacks within Togo this year. The first, another raid on army troops that left eight soldiers dead in May, was also claimed in an online audio statement. The attacks have raised fears of insurgency spreading from conflict-torn Burkina Faso into West Africa's littoral states. (Long War Journal, APA News)