France urges citizens to leave Mali amid rebel advance
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- France urged its citizens to leave Mali "as soon as possible" on Wednesday, warning against all travel and calling the security situation "extremely volatile" after a weekend of coordinated attacks
- Defence leader Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Kati during Saturday's wave of violence, marking the most senior junta figure to die since Goïta seized power in 2020
- Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) Tuareg separatist fighters seized control of the northern city of Kidal, with spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane vowing from Paris that "the regime will fall" and naming Gao, Timbuktu, and Menaka as next targets
- Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) staged simultaneous jihadist attacks across multiple cities including the capital Bamako, while the FLA focused its assault on northern territory claimed as a Tuareg homeland
- Mali's military leader Gen Assimi Goïta said the security situation was "under control" and that the army had dealt a "violent blow" to attackers, with operations still ongoing as of Tuesday
- Ramadane called for Russian forces to withdraw from "all of Mali" after they agreed to pull out of Kidal on Monday, exposing a direct split between the rebels and the junta's foreign backers
- The UK advised citizens to leave Mali immediately by commercial flight, warning overland travel to neighbouring countries was "too dangerous" due to "terrorist attacks along national highways," while the US embassy told citizens to shelter in place
Why it matters: France, the UK, and the US have all issued emergency advisories within days of the attacks, with Bamako airport still open but overland routes deemed too dangerous. With Mali's defence leader killed and Kidal lost, the junta faces its gravest crisis yet — and its Russian-mercenary backers have already begun pulling out of Kidal under rebel pressure.
