France has advised French nationals to temporarily leave Mali “as soon as possible” as an armed group blockade upends daily life in the capital Bamako and other regions of the West African country.

The al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has since September been targeting fuel tankers, particularly those coming from Senegal and the Ivory Coast, through which the majority of Mali’s imported goods transit.

Since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021 that led to the end of France’s military presence in the country, Mali has been ruled by a military government that is struggling to counter various armed groups, including the JNIM.

“For several weeks, the security situation has been deteriorating in Mali, including in Bamako,” the French Foreign Ministry said in

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