The African Union (AU) has called for an urgent and coordinated international response, including intelligence-sharing and enhanced cooperation, to tackle the worsening security crisis in Mali, where Islamist insurgents have imposed a fuel blockade and escalated kidnappings of foreign nationals.
Since September, an Al Qaeda-affiliated militant group operating in West Africa’s Sahel region, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has blocked fuel imports into Mali by attacking tanker convoys and supply routes. The blockade has crippled transportation, shut down schools and businesses, and deepened the country’s humanitarian crisis.
The group’s growing influence has alarmed regional and Western governments, with analysts warning it could attempt to assert control over parts of the landlocked nation. In recent days, the United States, France, Britain, and Italy have issued travel advisories urging their citizens to leave Mali amid deteriorating security conditions.
In a statement released on Sunday, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, expressed “deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Mali, where terrorist groups have imposed blockades, disrupted access to essential supplies, and severely worsened humanitarian conditions for civilian populations.”
He called for “enhanced cooperation, intelligence-sharing and sustained support” among nations within and beyond the Sahel to confront the growing threat of violent extremism.
Youssouf also urged the immediate release of three Egyptian nationals reportedly kidnapped by JNIM militants, reiterating the AU’s condemnation of all forms of abduction and hostage-taking.
The jihadist group has long used kidnappings of foreigners to finance its operations across West Africa. In October, Reuters reported that a deal had been reached to secure the release of two Emirati citizens in exchange for a ransom payment of approximately $50 million.
Despite the crisis, some signs of normalcy have begun to return. Schools in the capital city, Bamako, reopened on Monday, November 10, after being closed for two weeks due to fuel shortages, a Reuters witness confirmed.
The AU’s appeal underscores growing concern over the Sahel’s deteriorating security landscape, where regional cooperation and international support have struggled to contain jihadist expansion following the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers and foreign troops.
