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The United States has joined several European nations, including Italy and Germany, in urging its citizens to leave Mali as the country’s deepening fuel crisis sparks growing instability.
The US State Department on Thursday ordered all non-emergency staff and family members to depart “due to safety and security concerns.”
Mali’s military-led government has been grappling with severe fuel shortages since early September, when al-Qaeda-linked insurgents began blocking fuel imports into the landlocked country. The jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has attacked convoys carrying fuel tankers, cutting off supply routes to the capital, Bamako.
The blockade, imposed in retaliation for the government’s ban on fuel sales in rural areas, has led to skyrocketing prices — with petrol costs rising by 500% — and long queues at petrol stations. Authorities said the restrictions were intended to deprive jihadists of fuel supplies used in their operations.
Amid mounting public frustration, the army announced that it would limit its own fuel use to three service stations in Bamako and three in the nearby town of Kati, in an effort to preserve supplies for military operations and ease tensions at overcrowded stations.
The crisis has also disrupted education and agriculture. The government has suspended classes at schools and universities for two weeks, while farmers face difficulties during the harvest season due to fuel shortages.
Electricity generation has plummeted as well, with the national power company, Énergie du Mali, cutting supply from 19 hours a day to just six.
Analysts say the fuel blockade is part of a broader strategy by JNIM militants to weaken the junta by crippling the economy and undermining public confidence.
