Mali faces a deepening political, security and humanitarian crisis after a military coup ousted President Amadou Toumani Touré in late March. The soldiers who seized power said his government had mishandled a Tuareg rebellion in the north. Instead, the coup created a power vacuum that allowed rebels to advance rapidly, taking the major northern towns of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu as the Malian army weakened.

The groups involved in the northern takeover have different goals. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seeks an independent Tuareg state, while the Islamist group Ansar Dine wants to keep the region within Mali and impose Islamic law. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned Western music and told people in Timbuktu to follow Islamic law. Some civilians were fleeing the central town of Mopti for fear that the fighting would spread south.

West African leaders fear Mali’s collapse could destabilize the wider Sahel. After the junta failed to meet a deadline to restore civilian rule, the Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions, closing borders and freezing Mali’s account at the regional central bank. The African Union joined in imposing sanctions. Junta leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo said the military would remain in power but promised consultations to establish a transition body and organize elections in which the junta would not participate.

The embargo quickly affected daily life in landlocked Mali, which imports all its fuel. Long queues formed at petrol stations as residents and businesses stocked up. Farmers feared shortages would prevent them from running irrigation pumps, while limited fuel supplies also threatened electricity generation during the hot season. The frozen bank account raised questions about whether civil servants would be paid. A junta negotiator said the MNLA was open to talks, but a rebel spokesman said the group had no direct contact with the junta and did not recognize Sanogo.

The fighting has also put Timbuktu’s cultural heritage at risk. UNESCO called for the protection of its distinctive mud-and-wood mosques, cemeteries and ancient manuscripts. Once a major centre of Islamic learning, the city holds hundreds of thousands of manuscripts documenting a rich literary and scientific tradition. The takeover could disrupt preservation work and access to the collections.

According to the UN refugee agency, violence since January had displaced more than 200,000 people, around half of whom had fled Mali. The conflict has compounded a regional drought, with aid agencies warning that 13 million people need food assistance. The UN Security Council was due to meet in emergency session as regional leaders sought international support.