Cattle merchant Seydou Bah survived the March 2022 massacre of over 500 locals by Wagner in the central Malian market town of Moura. After the army killed his brother the next year for speaking out, he fled to a village controlled by the jihadists.
There, the new rulers frequently corralled men to the mosque for prayers and imposed tributes paid in cattle and harvests, said Bah, who has since fled the country and scrapes a living working on building sites. “Whether it’s under the army or JNIM, there is no freedom,” Bah said.
Earlier this year, the Russian military sent a new contingent of fighters under its direct control, but they lacked the experience to fight effectively in Mali’s rough terrain. The militants easily ambushed their joint convoys with Malian forces, allowing the insurgents to seize more weapons and lay plans to seize the capital.
The junta has sought further help from Russia. Last week, a visiting Russian delegation promised to ship up to 200,000 tons of oil and food.
The U.S., meanwhile, said it was evacuating some diplomats from its embassy and urged American citizens to leave the country immediately.
In July, Rudolph Atallah, a Trump administration counterterrorism adviser, visited Mali to offer American assistance. He didn’t return a request for comment.
Erik Prince, the
well-connected American defense contractor, is in contact with the junta to provide assistance, according to people familiar with the approach.
European security and experts say the Malian regime is unlikely to fall in the short term because insurgents will find big cities harder to hold than the countryside. Instead, a future government, particularly if the junta falls, could negotiate with the jihadists, they say. They point out that community leaders have already held talks for local truces with JNIM in the central part of the country.
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