ABIDJAN, Jan. 6, 2026 — Côte d’Ivoire’s anti-terrorism court has resumed the trial of 45 defendants accused of participating in or supporting the June 2020 assault on the Kafolo military post, a rare but deadly jihadist attack on the country’s northern frontier that left 14 soldiers dead, judicial authorities and state media reports said.
The defendants are alleged to have either taken part directly in the raid on Kafolo, near the border with Burkina Faso, or to have provided assistance before or after the operation. Among them are the alleged leader of the unit that carried out the assault and the father of an alleged perpetrator accused of helping his son flee, according to trial coverage.
Authorities say the proceedings are intended not only to establish criminal responsibility for the attack, but also to help investigators map how armed groups recruit, move, and sustain networks along the porous frontier between the Sahel and coastal West Africa. Prosecutors hope testimony will shed light on the logistics chain—local support, financing, and safe-house arrangements—that enable jihadist cells to operate across borders.
The hearing was adjourned and is expected to resume on Jan. 19, according to reports from the court session.
The Kafolo attack occurred weeks after Ivorian and Burkinabè forces conducted a joint cross-border operation that Côte d’Ivoire’s army said killed eight suspected jihadists and led to 38 arrests, underscoring the escalating pressure on militant groups in the borderlands even before the raid.
Analysts have long warned that instability in Burkina Faso and Mali could spill further into coastal states. Still, Côte d’Ivoire has largely avoided the sustained insurgencies that have overwhelmed parts of the central Sahel. The International Crisis Group has argued that relative political stability, economic performance, and a mix of security and prevention measures have helped the country keep jihadist groups at bay, even as risks persist in the north.
The Kafolo raid was widely viewed as a turning point: conflict researchers noted it marked the first jihadist attack inside Côte d’Ivoire since the 2016 Grand-Bassam assault, highlighting how the Sahel threat has edged toward Gulf of Guinea states
