Key points: JNIM fighters have imposed a blockade on Lere near the Mauritania border, forcing an estimated 2,000–3,000 people to flee west into Mauritania over the past two weeks. The group has also enforced a fuel embargo that has crippled Mali's economy, disrupted harvests and prompted temporary school closures. Locals report a "24-hour" ultimatum to leave, with at least 14 civilians killed and dozens kidnapped — some later found dead. The UN says JNIM is the Sahel's most significant jihadist threat, financing itself through taxation and ransom kidnappings.
Thousands Flee as JNIM Blockade Strangles Malian Border Town Lere
Key points: JNIM fighters have imposed a blockade on Lere near the Mauritania border, forcing an estimated 2,000–3,000 people to flee west into Mauritania over the past two weeks. The group has also enforced a fuel embargo that has crippled Mali's economy, disrupted harvests and prompted temporary school closures. Locals report a "24-hour" ultimatum to leave, with at least 14 civilians killed and dozens kidnapped — some later found dead. The UN says JNIM is the Sahel's most significant jihadist threat, financing itself through taxation and ransom kidnappings.
03:16 AM, 11/11/2025Conflict
Residents flee after jihadists impose total blockade
Fatima held her newborn close as she waited in the sweltering Mauritanian afternoon sun to register as a refugee at the Fassala border post. She and several dozen others had been forced to abandon Lere, a small Malian town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the Mauritania border, after jihadist fighters imposed a total blockade on the community roughly two weeks earlier.
Dressed in a bright tunic and sheltering in the shade of an ochre wall, Fatima was among an estimated 2,000–3,000 people who fled Lere and surrounding villages, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Many arrived exhausted after days of walking, dusty and sunburnt, some accompanied only by a few livestock — a donkey, goats or a horse — and minimal belongings.
Blockades and a crippling fuel embargo
Since September, similar blockades around Lere have multiplied and been attributed to fighters from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qa'ida-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims. The same group has enforced a fuel blockade that has effectively paralysed Mali’s economy, disrupting harvests, limiting electricity supplies and forcing temporary school closures.
JNIM militants have attacked fuel tankers entering Mali from neighbouring countries and set up roadblocks near borders with Mauritania and Senegal, choking the flow of vital goods into the landlocked Sahel state. The United Nations describes JNIM as the most significant jihadist threat in the Sahel.
“Nothing left to eat”
"We were told we had to leave the town. There was nothing left to eat. So, we left,"
The surge of people into Mauritania represents the largest influx of Malian refugees since late 2023, said Norik Soubrier, a field expert with the European Union's humanitarian arm. Humanitarian workers warn the displaced are vulnerable to food insecurity, limited water and shelter, and further violence.
Attacks, kidnappings and reprisals
Two residents who escaped to Mauritania told AFP that the attackers issued a "24-hour ultimatum" for residents to leave; those who could not or refused, they said, were killed or taken hostage. Officials and locals report that suspected jihadists killed at least 14 civilians in the central Malian town in recent days. A local official, speaking anonymously for security reasons, said fighters had kidnapped 12 people who were later found dead, and in a separate case two herders seized earlier were found dead a few kilometres from town.
Community leaders say victims were not selected at random: militants reportedly had lists and targeted specific individuals accused of collaborating with the Malian army. One leader described a pattern in which government forces can operate while deployed, but once they withdraw to barracks JNIM reasserts control and civilians are trapped.
Context
The junta that seized power after consecutive coups has struggled to contain the insurgency. JNIM has expanded its reach in recent months, funding operations through informal taxation and kidnappings for ransom. Humanitarian agencies have warned that continued blockades and attacks will multiply internal displacement and strain neighbouring countries receiving refugees.
Humanitarian implications: The displacement from Lere underscores growing civilian vulnerability across Mali's central and western regions, and highlights the urgent need for cross-border humanitarian assistance, protection for civilians and measures to restore supply routes.