Ivory Coast has strengthened security along its northern frontier after an unusual surge of Malian refugees escaping escalating insurgent attacks. Authorities said the influx followed a string of assaults on civilians by armed extremist groups operating across southern Mali’s fragile borderlands.
Mali’s military rulers have struggled for more than a decade to contain the insurgency led by JNIM, an Al-Qaeda-linked coalition that has tightened its grip on vast rural areas. Since September, the group has attacked fuel convoys travelling from Ivory Coast and Senegal, warning foreign operators against engaging with Mali’s junta without its approval.
Local residents told AFP that hundreds fled the town of Loulouni on Wednesday after insurgents raided the community just 50 kilometres from the Ivorian border. Ivory Coast’s National Security Council said the army chief of staff had been instructed to take all necessary measures to reinforce security in the region.
The country already shelters nearly 90,000 refugees from Burkina Faso, where insurgent violence continues to uproot communities and strain regional stability. As threats intensify, the United States and Britain recently withdrew non-essential staff from Mali, while several embassies advised their citizens to leave the country.