The African Union has demanded urgent international action, including intelligence-sharing, to address Mali’s worsening security crisis, where an Al Qaeda-linked group has imposed a crippling fuel blockade and kidnapped foreign nationals.
The call highlights growing regional alarm over the expanding reach of jihadist insurgents in West Africa’s Sahel. The group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has blocked fuel imports since September, attacking tanker convoys and creating severe shortages that have forced schools and businesses to shut.
In a statement on Sunday, the AU Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, expressed “deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating security situation.” He stated that “terrorist groups have imposed blockades, disrupted access to essential supplies, and severely worsened humanitarian conditions for civilian populations.”
The bloc urged “enhanced cooperation, intelligence-sharing and sustained support” for Sahel nations battling violent extremism. The JNIM’s latest show of force has raised concerns it may be attempting to consolidate its control over parts of the landlocked country, prompting Western nations including the United States, France, Britain and Italy to advise their citizens to leave.
Kidnappings for Ransom
The AU statement also called for the immediate release of three kidnapped Egyptian nationals. JNIM has repeatedly targeted foreign nationals for abduction to finance its operations.
In a previous incident reported by Reuters in October, a deal was secured to free two citizens of the United Arab Emirates in exchange for a ransom payment of roughly $50 million.
A Temporary Respite
Amid the crisis, there was a minor sign of normalcy on Monday as schools reopened in the capital, Bamako, a Reuters witness said, after a two-week closure due to the fuel shortage. However, the underlying security threat remains acute, with the African Union emphasizing that a coordinated international response is critical to stabilizing the situation.
