Extremists in troubled Mali called for a united front to bring down the junta that has run the country since 2020 and began a road blockade on the capital Bamako.
The call followed joint weekend attacks by extremist movements and Tuareg separatists against the ruling junta’s positions.
Late Thursday, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied with al-Qaeda), issued a statement calling for a broad “common front” to “bring down the junta” and proceed with “a peaceful and inclusive transition.”
“We call on all sincere patriots, without exception, to rise up and unite our forces in a common front,” JNIM declared. The extremist group cited “political parties, the national armed forces, religious authorities, traditional leaders, and all components of Malian society” in the French-language statement published on its Az Zallaqa platform.
Earlier this week, the JNIM had announced its intention to impose a blockade on access routes to Bamako, threatening severe reprisals against anyone still travelling on roads leading to the capital or the nearby town of Kati, a junta stronghold.
“The only concession is being made for those already in Bamako to allow them to leave,” a JNIM spokesperson stated.
Traffic heading to the capital had thinned out over the past two days, according to road users, though air traffic remained unaffected.
On Thursday evening, the government of Niger said the joint anti-extremist force of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali carried out “intense air campaigns” in Malian territory.
Nigerien authorities said they welcomed the “prompt and vigorous response of the units of the unified force… which conducted intense air campaigns in the hours following the cowardly attacks of April 25, 2026, in Gao, Menaka and Kidal.”
Earlier in the day, Mali held a tribute under tight security for defense minister Sadio Camara, who was killed in the weekend attacks.
Thousands of people, including junta leader Assimi Goita, attended the ceremony at the military engineering battalion grounds in the center of the capital, Bamako.
Hundreds of passengers and goods vehicles were stranded at several entry points into Bamako, transport operators said Thursday, notably on routes leading out to Conakry, Abidjan and Dakar, port cities in neighboring states vital to landlocked Mali’s economy.
“We’ve been stuck here since yesterday (Wednesday). There are at least a hundred vehicles parked here as far as the eye can see,” a lorry driver said, speaking from the border town of Kouremale.
“We’re waiting for things to settle down, but anxiety is mounting,” he told AFP.
On the road to Sikasso, another vital route linking Mali to Ivorian seaports including Abidjan, several sources reported violent incidents with one security source telling AFP a number of drivers had been killed – though it was not possible to verify the claim.
Late last year, the JNIM attempted to cripple the Malian economy by imposing blockades on the supply of petrol and diesel being trucked in from Ivory Coast and Senegal in particular.