The U.S. State Department has ordered the departure of all non-emergency personnel and their family members from Mali, citing escalating security risks as al Qaeda-linked insurgents tighten a fuel blockade on the country.

“The Department of State ordered non-emergency employees and their family members to leave Mali due to safety risks,” the department said in an updated travel advisory issued on Thursday (October 30).

The move comes just days after the department authorised voluntary departures and warned U.S. citizens to leave Mali immediately, as the security situation continues to deteriorate. The advisory remains at Level 4 – Do Not Travel, the highest risk level in the U.S. system.

Militants impose fuel blockade

The crisis stems from a blockade announced in early September by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al Qaeda-affiliated militant group operating across the Sahel. The group has attacked convoys of fuel tankers attempting to reach the capital, Bamako, or cross Mali’s borders, effectively choking the flow of essential supplies into the landlocked West African nation.

The Malian government, struggling to maintain control over parts of the country, responded on Sunday by suspending schools and universities nationwide for two weeks, citing fuel shortages.

Analysts say the blockade is part of a broader pressure campaign against Mali’s military-led government, which seized power in a coup in 2021 and has since faced growing insurgent threats and international isolation.

“This blockade is designed to suffocate Mali’s economy — to cut off its oxygen supply,” one regional security analyst told Reuters earlier this week.

The State Department’s latest evacuation order underscores Washington’s mounting concern over Mali’s stability, as militant groups expand their influence across the Sahel region, threatening trade routes and regional energy access.

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