France Urges Citizens to Leave Mali as Rebels Vow to Oust Junta
Traffic moving along a main road in Bamako, Mali on April 26.
Photographer: AFP/Getty Images
France urged its citizens to leave Mali “as soon as possible” as a separatist group vowed to expand its campaign to oust the nation’s military junta and Islamist militants renewed a threat to blockade the capital.
President Assimi Goïta conceded the country is facing a “moment of extreme gravity” after a series of coordinated attacks at the weekend left the nation’s defense minister dead and forced Malian and Russian mercenary forces to withdraw from a northern stronghold.