Ofure Akhigbe
The United States Embassy in Mali has urged all American citizens to leave the country immediately, citing escalating terrorist threats and a worsening fuel crisis triggered by a jihadi blockade.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the embassy advised U.S. nationals to depart using commercial flights, warning that overland routes are unsafe due to frequent terrorist attacks along national highways.
This is the second security alert issued by the embassy in just three days, following an earlier advisory against all travel to Mali because of the heightened risks of crime, terrorism, and kidnappings.
The al-Qaida-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) announced in September that it had blocked fuel tankers from entering the country as part of its campaign against Mali’s ruling military junta. The group’s fighters have reportedly set more than 100 fuel trucks ablaze, crippling supplies across the nation.
The blockade has had devastating consequences. Schools and universities have closed nationwide, and transportation has nearly come to a standstill as fuel shortages deepen.
JNIM is among several armed groups destabilizing the wider Sahel region—a vast expanse of desert stretching from North Africa to West Africa—where an intensifying insurgency continues to take a heavy humanitarian toll.