Mali faces a deepening political, security and humanitarian crisis after soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré in a March coup. The junta said it acted because the government had mishandled a Tuareg rebellion in the north. Instead, the power vacuum allowed rebels to advance rapidly, capturing the major northern towns of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu and raising the prospect that the country could split.

The rebel forces have different goals. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seeks an independent Tuareg homeland in northern Mali. Ansar Dine, an Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda’s North African branch, wants Mali to remain united under Islamic law. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned Western music on local radio and told people in Timbuktu to follow Islamic law. Some civilians were fleeing the central town of Mopti for fear that the fighting would move south.

West African leaders, concerned that Mali’s collapse could destabilize the wider Sahel, have demanded that the junta restore civilian rule. After a deadline expired, the Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions, closing borders and freezing Mali’s account at the regional central bank. The African Union also imposed sanctions. Junta leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo said the military would remain in power but promised consultations on a transition body and elections in which the junta would not participate.

The embargo immediately raised fears of shortages in landlocked Mali, which imports all its fuel. Long lines formed at petrol stations as residents stocked up for vehicles, farm irrigation pumps and generators. Fuel shortages could also disrupt electricity supplies during the hot season, when low water levels limit hydropower. The frozen account raised questions about whether civil servants would be paid.

The fighting has worsened a regional humanitarian emergency. According to the UN refugee agency, more than 200,000 people had been displaced since January, including about 100,000 who fled Mali. Aid agencies warned that 13 million people across the drought-stricken region needed food assistance.

UNESCO warned that the conflict also threatened Timbuktu’s World Heritage sites, including its distinctive mud-and-wood mosques and cemeteries. The city’s approximately 700,000 ancient manuscripts document centuries of African literary and scientific scholarship; the takeover could interrupt efforts to preserve and digitize them. Meanwhile, the prospect of negotiations remained uncertain: a junta representative said the MNLA was open to talks, but an MNLA spokesman said the group did not recognize Sanogo and had no direct contact with the junta.