Senegal said Saturday that it is positioning new gendarmerie units in the east of the country as it faces growing security threats along its border with Mali.Jihadist attacks early last month in Mali's west included an assault on Diboli, a border community less than 500 metres from the town of Kidira in Senegal.
The attacks were claimed by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic initials JNIM, which analysts say has ambitions to expand into Senegal.
Senegal's National Gendarmerie said in a post on Facebook it had opened new units in Tambacounda, Kedougou and Saraya in ceremonies this week conducted by the minister of the armed forces, General Birame Diop.
The new units are meant to address "cross-border crime, trafficking of all kinds, and the many security challenges specific to this part of the country", the post said.
It added that their creation reflects "the will of the senior authorities to guarantee the protection of populations and property as well as the security of the territory".
Among the new units are an investigation brigade in Tambacounda, a rapid action group for surveillance and intervention plus a gendarmerie company in Saraya and a gendarmerie legion in Kedougou.
Diop "emphasized the need to establish a climate of trust with the population for better collaboration", according to the Facebook post.
Jihadist groups have recruited members in the Sahel by playing on populations' sense of marginalisation, with JNIM being particularly active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Senegalese officials recently imposed a nighttime ban on motorcycles in the eastern Bakel region, which stretches along the border, after jihadists used motorbikes in their attacks in Mali, including in Diaboli.
