Mali Is F*cked
Simon Whistler • October 15, 2026
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Note: this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors or inconsistencies.
Thus the hell is in crisis. That may be something you're already aware of, but what you may not be aware of is the sheer scale of the conflict taking place there. According to regional analysts, as much as 60% of Burkina Faso's territory is currently in the hands of jihadists and insurgents.
Neighboring Niger, meanwhile, has seen its main airport attacked twice this year by separate armed groups, as well as an attempted coup that saw gunfire on the streets of the capital. But even by these lamentable standards, there's one Sahel nation that is in a whole other league.
Mali is currently battling a multi-front insurgency against a coalition of jihadists and separatists in the north and an insurgent Islamic state elsewhere.
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About this briefing
Al-Qaeda's Sahel ally has Bamako under fuel blockade, its army demoralised and its Russian patrons stretched thin. The next few months will decide whether Mali stabilises, collapses, or splits in two.