A military coup in Mali has accelerated a Tuareg rebellion in the north, prompted regional sanctions and raised fears of a humanitarian and cultural catastrophe. Soldiers who ousted President Amadou Toumani Touré in March said his government had mishandled the insurgency. Instead, the power vacuum allowed rebels to seize the major northern towns of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, threatening to divide the country.

The rebel forces have differing goals. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) seeks an independent Tuareg state in northern Mali. Ansar Dine, an Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda’s North African branch, wants to impose Islamic law while keeping the territory within Mali. Residents reported that Islamist fighters had ransacked bars, banned Western music from local broadcasts and told people in Timbuktu to follow Islamic law. Some civilians fled the central town of Mopti, fearing a further advance.

West African leaders, concerned about instability spreading across the Sahel, demanded that the junta restore civilian rule. After their deadline expired, 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. Junta leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo said the military would remain in power but promised to consult political groups on a transition body and elections in which the junta would not participate. Representatives of the military leadership travelled to Nigeria for talks.

The sanctions quickly affected daily life in landlocked Mali, which imports all its fuel. Long queues formed at petrol stations as people stocked up for transport and generators, including those used to irrigate crops. Fuel shortages also threatened electricity supplies during the hot season, when low water levels limit hydropower, while the frozen bank account raised uncertainty over civil servants’ salaries.

The violence has displaced more than 200,000 people since January, around half of whom have fled Mali, according to the UN refugee agency. The conflict has worsened a regional drought crisis in which aid agencies say 13 million people need food assistance.

UNESCO warned that fighting could damage Timbuktu’s World Heritage sites, including its distinctive mud-and-wood mosques and cemeteries. The city also holds about 700,000 ancient manuscripts that document a rich literary and scientific heritage; the takeover could disrupt preservation work and restrict access. As the UN Security Council prepared an emergency meeting, regional leaders faced the difficult tasks of restoring constitutional order and helping Mali respond to the rebellion.