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France has advised its citizens in Mali to leave as soon as possible, as Islamist insurgents continue their blockade of the country.
The French foreign ministry advised citizens to depart on commercial flights while they are still available, and to avoid overland travel.
A two-month-old fuel blockade on Mali, imposed by al-Qaeda-affiliated group has upended daily life in the capital, Bamako, and other regions of the landlocked West African country – a former French colony.
France’s announcement came as MSC – the world’s biggest shipping company – said it was halting its operations in Mali, citing the blockade and deteriorating security.
The jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has caused the obstruction by attacking tankers on major highways.
Mali has no coast so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from neighbouring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Last month, the US embassy in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the crisis.
It said the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt the overall security situation in unpredictable ways”.
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who first seized power in a coup in 2020.
The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to deal with the escalating insurgency.
Both have left since the junta took over, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.
However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.
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