Mali attacks raise alarm bells in Washington

A sweeping jihadist offensive across Mali is raising concerns in Washington about the security of the US embassy in Bamako and the safety of Americans in the West African nation.

Last month, Al Qaeda-affiliated group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) launched simultaneous attacks across the nation in an offensive that has continued into May. The Malian defense minister was among those killed in the initial attacks after a suicide truck bomber targeted his home near the capitol Bamako.

The scale and coordination of the attacks has raised urgent questions on Capitol Hill about the stability of the military junta that has governed Mali since 2021, sources told Semafor. The embassy in Bamako remains open but Mali is under a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory — the State Department’s highest warning. US officials are also working to free Kevin Rideout, an American believed to be held hostage somewhere in Mali or Niger.

Senate Democratic aides told Semafor they are pressing for answers from the State Department about embassy operations and US strategy in the country, expressing concerns about whether Mali’s government would withstand the current episode of violence. Democrats are also looking for guidance about who the Trump administration is engaging with in the military junta.

“My guess is you’re not going to see black flags flying over Bamako tomorrow. But I can’t promise by next week,” Nathaniel Powell, a West Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica and research associate at Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy, told Semafor in an interview.

A State Department spokesperson declined to discuss details of security or staffing the embassy in Bamako, but said the department “is always vigilant and continually reviews its posture at embassies and consulates throughout the world in line with its mission, the local security environment, and the health situation.”