France, Dec. 14 -- In a report published on Monday, the UK research programme Xcept said that while some of the women say they "support" the armed group, they believe such testimonies are "more often a survival strategy than radicalisation".

The al-Qaeda linked armedGroup for the Support of Islam and Muslimscontrols larges parts of Mali and Burkina Faso. The researchers interviewed 77 women from the Fulani ethnic group - who are predominantly Muslim and historically associated with nomadic pastoralism - living in these areas.

Some were the wives, mothers or grandmothers of the jihadists, while others had no direct connection to them. More than half have lived for at least five years "under JNIM's effective control".

The researchersfoun...