Mali’s ruling junta responded to an al-Qaida affiliate’s fuel blockade by shuttering all schools until mid-November, the latest sign of instability in the West African country.
The month-long blockade by the JNIM armed group has set off long queues at petrol stations in Bamako and other major cities, grinding economic activity to a halt.
JNIM has orchestrated multiple attacks in Mali since July, targeting trade channels with neighbors Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, and Senegal. The group is in control of more Malian territory “than at any other previous time” during its decade-long insurgency, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Washington DC think tank.
On Tuesday, the US advised Americans to leave the country immediately, citing security “unpredictability.”