Mali faces a political, security and humanitarian crisis following a March coup that ousted President Amadou Toumani Touré. Soldiers led by Capt. Amadou Sanogo said they seized power because the government had mishandled a Tuareg rebellion in the north. Instead, the coup created a power vacuum that allowed rebels to advance rapidly and capture the major northern towns of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, raising fears that the country could be divided.

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 unified under Islamic law. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned Western music from local radio and instructed people in Timbuktu to follow Islamic law. Some civilians were fleeing the central town of Mopti in fear of a further advance.

West African leaders, concerned about instability spreading across the Sahel, demanded a return to constitutional rule. After the junta failed to meet their deadline, the Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions, including border closures and the freezing of Mali’s account at the regional central bank. The African Union also imposed sanctions. Sanogo said the army would remain in power but promised consultations on a transition body and elections in which the junta would not participate. A junta negotiator said the MNLA was open to talks, although a rebel spokesman said the group did not recognize Sanogo and had had no direct contact with the junta.

The embargo threatens severe hardship in landlocked Mali, which imports all its fuel. Long queues formed at petrol stations as residents stocked up for transport, farming and electricity generation. Fuel shortages could disrupt irrigation and power supplies during the hot season, when low water levels limit hydropower. The bank freeze also raised questions about the government’s ability to pay civil servants.

The fighting has displaced more than 200,000 people since January, including about 100,000 who fled Mali, according to the UN refugee agency. It has compounded a drought-related food crisis affecting Mali and neighboring countries, where aid agencies say 13 million people need food assistance.

UNESCO warned that the conflict also threatens Timbuktu’s World Heritage architecture and its collection of approximately 700,000 ancient manuscripts. The city’s mosques, cemeteries and manuscripts bear witness to its history as a center of Islamic learning and African literary and scientific scholarship. The rebel takeover could disrupt preservation work and access to the collections.