Mali could become first African country ruled by al Qaeda group JNIM
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As the West African nation of Mali moves to become the first country on the continent to be ruled by an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, a State Department spokesman warned American citizens not to leave or travel there.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the situation in Mali, the spokesperson warned, “Do not travel for any reason due to crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest and health risks,” and warned, “US citizens should avoid traveling to Mali, and those currently in Mali should leave immediately.”
The US embassy in Mali also posted the following message on its website: “US citizens should depart using commercial aviation as land routes into neighboring countries may be unsafe for travel due to terrorist attacks along national highways.”
He also warned Americans not to travel outside the capital. “The U.S. Embassy in Bamako is rarely able to provide emergency service or support to U.S. citizens outside the capital.” He stated that the information was still valid as of Monday.
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A general view of Modibo Keita International Airport in Bamako, Mali, as the State Department warned Americans to stay away from the country and urged those already there to leave amid rising terrorist threats, congested routes and worsening insecurity, officials said. (AFP via Getty Images)
A former senior military official with detailed knowledge of the situation told Fox News Digital that the situation in Mali makes a threat to the US homeland “increasingly unlikely.”
Islamist JNIM fighters surrounded the capital Bamako, preventing fuel tankers from reaching the city and setting some vehicles on fire. The Malian army tried to break the blockade by setting up armed convoys for trucks, but JNIM attacked several of them.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman, a retired Air Force general, told Fox News Digital that he believes Mali’s success in keeping JNIM at bay is important to Washington. Ekman was a key player for the US military in Mali, Niger and other Sahel countries when he led the Department of Defense West Africa Coordination Unit of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) until his retirement earlier this year.
“The United States still has security interests in West Africa,” he said. “The threat of a foreign operation against the American homeland is unacceptable, increasingly likely, and much more difficult to detect given the lack of remaining U.S. forces and intelligence assets in the region.”
April 24, 2012 – FILE photo: Terrorists from the Al Qaeda-affiliated group in Timbuktu, Mali. (AP)
He continued: “This threat also affects the safety and security of US diplomats and their families in Bamako, Ouagadougou, Niamey (Niger) and other West African countries.”
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The military junta that controlled the country a year ago asked U.S. and French troops to leave Mali and replaced them with the Russian Wagner/Africa Corps mercenary group, the Kremlin’s private army. Mariam Wahba told Fox News Digital that the Russians, who are more interested in mining the region, were “very helpful.” Wahba is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
Referring to the risk of the Al Qaeda-linked group taking over the capital of Mali, Ekman said, “Both Bamako and Ouagadougou (the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso) are at risk.”
He continued: “JNIM appears to be gaining momentum and appears to have both expanded goals and greater commitment.”
Geese walk on the road as trucks cross the border between Ivory Coast and Mali in the village of Nigoun near Tengrela on October 31, 2025. In northern Ivory Coast, truck drivers are preparing to return to neighboring Mali with tanker trucks full of fuel and anxiety. One acronym strikes fear into the hearts of every truck driver: JNIM, the name of the jihadist group affiliated with Al Qaeda, decreed two months ago that no more tanker trucks from the neighboring country would be allowed into Mali. (Issouf Sanogo /AFP via Getty Images)
“During and after the withdrawal of American forces from Niger in 2024, the United States (under the Biden administration) also chose to give up keeping these forces in the region,” the former major general said. he added. “As a result, the United States has given up the ability to monitor and respond to the activities and growth of Sahel terrorist organizations, to come to the aid of threatened U.S. embassies, and to resolve crises such as the kidnapping of an American missionary in October.”
The missionary, a pilot, was kidnapped in Niger on October 21 and has not been heard from since then.
JNIM has been designated by the Department of State as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
“The Malian army is fighting a disorganized and asymmetric enemy,” Wahba said, adding: “At the end of the day, these are jihadists and the government has a hard time predicting them. If this continues, Bamako could fall within days or weeks.”
Mali’s fight against the Al Qaeda terrorist organization is on the administration’s threat radar. Last month, Deputy Foreign Minister Christopher Landau flew to Bamako and met with the junta’s foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, “to discuss our common security interests in the region.”
Caleb Weiss, senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation and editor of FDD’s Long War Magazine, told Fox News Digital that he is concerned that strict Sharia Muslim law will be enforced by terrorists in Mali, adding, “JNIM, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in West Africa, is exerting intense economic and social pressure on Bamako, probably in the hope that the military junta there will somehow capitulate.”
“The regime in Bamako is absolutely overstretched, and Russia’s allies in Wagner/Africa Corps are proving ineffective,” Weiss continued.
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“JNIM is also strengthening its position in other parts of Mali where it is allowed to impose Sharia to end blockade, siege or violence in general. It is possible that this is what they are looking for in Bamako. JNIM is much less likely to accept anything other than a Mali governed by a strict interpretation of Sharia law,” he said.
Ekman said things could be different: “The reach and relationships that other U.S. government agencies can develop in countries like Mali will likely fall short of what the United States can achieve in redistributing its military capabilities as it exits Niger.”
