OMM Redaksiyası
BAMAKO, Mali — Mali marked its 66th independence anniversary amid a deepening security crisis, with armed groups expanding their reach and the government struggling to protect vital supply routes into the capital, according to Al Jazeera.
A fuel blockade has exposed the vulnerability of routes linking Bamako with neighbouring countries, while separatist and armed groups in the north have increasingly coordinated operations against the state. The developments have raised questions about the government’s ability to maintain effective control across the country.
Armed groups intensify attacks
On September 10, less than two weeks before the anniversary, the Al Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) attacked an army camp in Dioura in central Mali.
The assault followed an April offensive in which JNIM and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coordinated attacks on military and strategic sites in Bamako, Kati, Mopti, Gao and Kidal. The FLA is seeking greater autonomy or independence for northern Mali.
Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in the April attacks, which exposed the vulnerability of government forces in several parts of the country.
Since September 2025, JNIM has targeted fuel tankers and highways carrying fuel from Senegal and Ivory Coast. The attacks caused severe shortages in Bamako and disrupted electricity supplies and schooling.
More than 900 fuel tankers entered Bamako under military escort on September 14, according to the Malian government. The operation highlighted the difficulty of protecting the routes connecting the capital to its neighbours.
Growing coordination between armed groups
JNIM and the FLA have different long-term objectives. JNIM seeks to impose its interpretation of Islamic law, while the FLA is rooted in Tuareg demands for autonomy and independence. However, their cooperation has created a major challenge for the military government.
“The alliance between JNIM and FLA poses a threat to the government’s consolidation of national territory,” Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at Control Risks, told Al Jazeera.
Ochieng said periodic confrontations between the coalition and government forces would continue to undermine efforts to reach a political settlement. She also warned that hardline positions on both sides could make it more difficult to re-establish a peace agreement.
The two groups have cooperated before, including in 2012 and 2024, although their alliances have previously broken down over territorial and ideological differences.
New alliances and continuing insecurity
Mali’s government has presented its withdrawal from former regional and international partnerships as an assertion of national sovereignty. However, Abubakar Abubakar Usman, a senior lecturer in international and strategic studies at the University of Malaysia, said the country’s growing reliance on Russia complicated that narrative.
“Mali’s exit from these institutions therefore looks less like an assertion of independence and more like a switching of alliances, from a Western-aligned security order to a Russian-aligned one,” Usman said.
Mali’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, took effect in January 2025. The three countries have instead strengthened the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), while Mali has deepened its military relationship with Russia.
Russia’s Africa Corps has taken over the paramilitary role previously associated with the Wagner Group and operates under the Russian defence ministry. Despite the new partnerships, however, Mali’s security situation has continued to deteriorate.
The April offensive reached locations near the capital and pushed Russian and Malian forces out of positions in the north. The September attack in Dioura demonstrated that armed groups remain capable of inflicting heavy losses on government forces.
More than 400,000 people were internally displaced in Mali in June, according to the UNHCR. Regions including Gao, Mopti, Menaka and Timbuktu are hosting significant displaced populations, while the International Organization for Migration has reported large displacement sites and continued arrivals in Mopti.
For residents of Bamako, the anniversary has brought unease. One resident who asked not to be identified for security reasons said the government’s statements about control did not always match the reality on the ground.
“We want to celebrate Independence Day, but there is a lot of anxiety this year. The attacks on the army camp in Dioura have reminded everyone that the security situation is still very fragile,” the resident said.
