France has advised its citizens in Mali to leave as soon as possible, as Islamist insurgents continue their blockade of the country.
The French Portiang Ministry advises citizens to leave commercial flights while they are still there, and to avoid overland travel.
A two-month fuel blockade in Mali, imposed by the Al-Qaeda group has daily life in the capital, Bamako, and other landlocked regions of West Africa – a former French colony.
The French announcement came as MSC – the world’s largest shipping company – said it was suspending operations in Mali, citing the blockade and worsening security.
The Jihadist Group Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (Jnim) caused the blockade by attacking tanks on major roads.
Mali is landlocked so all fuel supplies are brought by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Last month, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the crisis.
It said the fuel outages affected electricity supply and had “the potential to undermine the overall security situation in irreparable ways”.
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who first took power in 2020.
The junta has popular support when it comes to power, vowing to deal with a long-standing security crisis fueled by a separatist insurgency in the north by Islamist militaries.
The First Peacekeeping Mission of Perekeeping and French Forces was deployed in 2013 to deal with the rising insurgency.
Both have left since the fall of the junta, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to deal with the insecurity.
However, the jihadist insurgency continues and many parts of the north and east of the country remain outside the government’s control.