Rise in al Qaeda attacks revives specter of West African Caliphate

The Islamist group JNIM is pushing to assert political dominance in the Sahel region, experts have told Reuters, with a recent surge in deadly attacks reflecting a strategic shift that sees the al .Qaeda affiliate moving towards its goal to impose Islamic rule across the Sahel and extend influence into coastal West Africa — a landmass twice the size of Western Europe. Diane To reports.