Foreign embassies in Mali have urged their citizens to leave the country immediately amid a worsening fuel crisis and escalating insecurity. The United States and United Kingdom have also withdrawn non-essential diplomatic staff as a jihadist-imposed blockade continues to disrupt daily life and heighten fears of instability.
Since consecutive military coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali has been governed by a junta struggling to contain various armed groups, notably the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM). The militant group has been enforcing a blockade since September, targeting fuel tankers—particularly those traveling from Senegal and Ivory Coast, key routes for Mali’s imports.
Embassy Warnings and Evacuations
On Thursday, the U.S. State Department ordered all non-emergency personnel and family members to leave the country due to safety risks. This followed an earlier advisory urging all American citizens in Mali to depart immediately via commercial flights.
The British Foreign Office made a similar announcement, temporarily withdrawing non-essential staff from its embassy in Bamako and advising British nationals to leave “immediately by commercial flight if it is safe to do so.”
Italy, Germany, Canada, and several other countries have also advised their citizens to exit Mali without delay.
“The situation is volatile,” a diplomatic source in Bamako told AFP on condition of anonymity. “There are growing concerns about the military’s control and the advancing jihadist threat. Several localities in the south are under militant influence, and the capital is becoming increasingly vulnerable.”
A Capital Under Strain
JNIM has intensified operations along the main roads leading into Bamako, effectively isolating the capital. Numerous fuel tankers have been set ablaze, and several drivers and soldiers have been killed or abducted in ambushes.
The blockade has crippled economic activity in the landlocked Sahel nation over the past two weeks. Severe fuel shortages have led to long queues at petrol stations, while power outages—already frequent over the past five years—have worsened.
Citing the “unpredictable security situation in Bamako,” the U.S. embassy highlighted ongoing disruptions including fuel scarcity, school closures, and continued armed conflict in surrounding areas.
According to Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank, the coordinated embassy withdrawals “reveal a critical and rapid deterioration of security, even around Bamako, which had until now been relatively spared.”
Daily Life Paralyzed
The junta announced on Sunday that schools and universities would remain closed for two weeks due to the shortages. The crisis has also hit farmers hard during harvest season, with many unable to operate machinery for lack of fuel.
Officials say the blockade is a response to government restrictions on rural fuel sales—a policy intended to cut off jihadists’ access to supplies. However, the measure has deepened the suffering of ordinary Malians, especially in areas outside the capital, where shortages have been felt for weeks.
As the crisis deepens, Mali faces mounting pressure to restore supply lines and stabilize the security situation amid fears that the capital, long considered a relative safe haven, may no longer be immune to the country’s escalating conflict.
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