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AFRICAFE: Bamako Under Blockade: Understanding Mali’s Growing Jihadi Threat

December 4, 2025
Related topics: 
Security & Defense
Armed conflicts
Terrorism
Sahel
Africa

The episode examines the escalating instability in Mali as JNIM’s blockade on vital supplies tightens pressure on Bamako and exposes the Malian state’s vulnerabilities. Senior Fellow Rida Lyammouri explains why a full assault on the capital is unlikely, highlighting instead JNIM’s strategic use of asymmetrical warfare and adaptive local governance. He discusses the group’s regional expansion, the limits of foreign intervention, and outlines possible future scenarios ranging from negotiated settlements to rising civilian unrest.

Speakers
Rida Lyammouri
Senior Fellow
Rida Lyammouri is a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). He is also a senior West Africa and Lake Chad Basin researcher and advisor, with expertise in regional conflicts, violent extremism, climate change, migration, and trafficking. His research activities focus on geopolitics and international relations in the West African Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, regions he has worked on for 14 years, including in the field. He has extensive experience supporting both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the areas of international development, security, countering violent extremism and terrorism, preventing conflicts, ensuring humanitarian access, and migration. Mr. Lyammouri has contributed to in-depth research and analysis reports aiming at building ...
Khadija Mamouni
Research Assistant - International Relations Research Department
...

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