Mali faces a deepening political, security and humanitarian crisis after soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré in a March coup. The junta, led by Capt. Amadou Sanogo, said it acted because the government had mishandled a Tuareg rebellion in the north. The takeover instead created a power vacuum that allowed rebels to seize the major northern towns of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, raising fears that the country could split apart.

The rebel forces have different aims. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seeks an independent Tuareg homeland in northern Mali, while the Islamist group Ansar Dine wants to impose Islamic law while keeping the territory within Mali. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned Western music from local radio and told people in Timbuktu to follow Islamic law. Some civilians were fleeing the central town of Mopti for fear of a further advance.

The coup has alarmed leaders across West Africa, who fear wider instability in a region already coping with political turmoil. After the junta missed a deadline to restore civilian rule, the Economic Community of West African States closed borders and froze Mali’s account at the regional central bank; the African Union also imposed sanctions. Sanogo has said the army will remain in power while consulting political groups on a transition and elections in which the junta would not participate. A junta negotiator said the MNLA was open to talks, but a rebel spokesman said it had no direct contact with the junta and would negotiate only with a recognized authority.

The embargo has prompted long lines at fuel stations in Bamako. Landlocked Mali imports all its fuel, and shortages could disrupt transport, crop irrigation and electricity generation during the hot season, when low water levels limit hydropower. The frozen bank account also casts doubt on the government’s ability to pay civil servants.

Fighting threatens Timbuktu’s cultural heritage, UNESCO warned. The city’s distinctive mud-and-wood mosques, cemeteries and hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts preserve evidence of a rich African literary and scientific history. The takeover could interrupt efforts to protect and study them.

The conflict has displaced more than 200,000 people since January, including about 100,000 who fled Mali. It has also worsened a regional food crisis: aid agencies say 13 million people need assistance following drought. Regional leaders are pressing for constitutional order and a response to the rebellion, while warning that Mali’s collapse could have consequences across the Sahel.