The US Embassy in Mali has issued an urgent advisory calling on all American citizens to leave the country immediately amid rising terror threats and a worsening fuel crisis caused by a jihadi blockade.
In a statement, the embassy urged travelers to use commercial flights, warning that overland routes are unsafe due to frequent terrorist attacks along national highways.
It marks the second alert in just three days, following an earlier warning that cited crime, terrorism, and kidnappings as serious threats in Mali.
The al-Qaida-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, known as JNIM, announced in September that it had blocked fuel tankers from entering the country as part of its campaign against Mali’s governing military authorities. Fighters have reportedly set more than 100 trucks ablaze, cutting off vital fuel supplies.
The impact has been devastating, schools and universities have closed nationwide, while transportation systems have nearly come to a standstill.
JNIM is one of several armed groups destabilising the Sahel region, a vast stretch of desert spanning North Africa to West Africa, where insurgencies continue to spread and humanitarian suffering is mounting.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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