Mali faces a political, military and humanitarian crisis after soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré in March, ending two decades of democratic rule. The junta, led by Capt. Amadou Sanogo, said it acted because the government had mishandled a Tuareg rebellion in the north. The coup instead created a power vacuum that allowed rebel forces to advance rapidly and seize Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu.

The rebels include the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which seeks an independent Tuareg homeland in northern Mali, and Ansar Dine, an Islamist group linked to North African al-Qaeda that seeks to impose Islamic law while keeping the region within Mali. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned alcohol and Western music, and told people in Timbuktu to live under Islamic law. Civilians fled areas threatened by the advance. According to the UN refugee agency, more than 200,000 people had been uprooted since January, including about 100,000 who fled the country.

West African leaders, alarmed by the possible collapse or division of Mali and its consequences for the Sahel, demanded that the junta restore civilian rule. After a deadline passed, the Economic Community of West African States imposed an embargo, closed borders and froze Mali’s account at the regional central bank; the African Union also imposed sanctions. Sanogo said the army would remain in power while consulting political forces about a transition body and future democratic elections. Regional pressure also met some resistance in Bamako, where many Malians resented outside interference.

The sanctions quickly raised concerns in landlocked Mali, which imports fuel overland. Long lines formed at petrol stations as residents and businesses stocked up. Farmers feared shortages would stop the generators used for irrigation, while low water levels threatened hydropower during the hot season, increasing reliance on diesel generators. The frozen account also raised uncertainty about civil servants’ salaries. Meanwhile, prospects for negotiations with the MNLA were unclear: a junta negotiator said the group was open to talks, but an MNLA spokesman denied direct contact and said it did not recognize Sanogo.

The fighting also endangered Timbuktu’s cultural heritage. UNESCO called for the protection of the World Heritage Site, known for its mud-and-wood architecture, historic mosques and cemeteries, and hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts documenting Islamic learning, science, mathematics and history. The takeover threatened preservation and digitization work already under way. Across Mali and neighboring countries, the conflict compounded a drought-related food crisis, with aid agencies warning that 13 million people needed food assistance.