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Bamako Blockade Tightens as Convoy Is Ambushed and UN Sounds Rights Alarm in Mali

UN officials say the blockade signals a fast-worsening humanitarian emergency.

Overview

  • Militants attacked a truck convoy bound for Bamako as the capital remains under a rebel blockade.
  • Roadblocks have halted traffic into the city, leaving buses and goods stuck near Kayes and Kita and prompting Maersk to pause shipments to Mali.
  • The UN rights office says the April 25–26 assaults by al-Qaida-linked JNIM and Tuareg FLA sparked a fast-worsening crisis, and the Red Cross is rushing supplies to hospitals in Bamako, Kati, Mopti and Gao.
  • Rights officials report extrajudicial killings and a spate of abductions after the raids, including the May 2 kidnapping of opposition lawyer Mountaga Tall.
  • Mali’s military prosecutor says investigators have solid evidence that some soldiers helped plan the attacks, a claim that adds to fears of internal fractures.