The siege of Mali’s capital by a jihadi militia threatens to topple the country’s ruling junta, which pivoted toward Russia after severing defense ties with France and the US.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin has spread throughout Mali for months, posing the gravest challenge yet to military leaders who took power in a 2021 coup. The al-Qaeda-linked group imposed a fuel blockade that has paralyzed the economy and forced schools to shut.
JNIM’s expansion offers a lesson for other Sahel nations — now the world’s terrorism hotspot — which are increasingly reliant on Moscow for security assistance: Malian President Assimi Goïta replaced French and American security assistance with help from Moscow, a policy now widely seen as a total failure.