ANKARA

Mali is "far from the scenario," the country’s foreign minister said amid armed groups’ recent attacks and blockade of the capital, Bamako.

“The scenario that you were told… in the back rooms of foreign intelligence agencies and in television studios is not Mali, not the Bamako that you see,” Abdoulaye Diop said in a news conference at the Bamako Expo Fair (BAMEX'25) late Wednesday.

Diop recalled that the “terrorist groups cannot hold up” against the Malian army’s power, which led them to change their strategy and target fuel trucks, schools, and industrial production sites, among others.

“We know the aim is mainly to disturb the economic system, suffocate the national economy, provoke a popular uprising, and topple the political establishment. So, as you see, we are very far from the scenario that you were told outside of our country,” Diop added.

The Malian minister stressed that, while the country had endured some supply troubles in the past few days, the government implemented a strategic plan to relaunch supply chains and protect the supply convoys.

Since 2012, Mali has been in political and security turmoil, fueled by repeated attacks by armed groups and clashes with separatist forces in the north.

JNIM, a merger of five armed groups and designated by the Malian government as a terrorist organization, has intensified its attacks across the country since September.

In recent weeks, Mali has faced a fuel crisis as armed groups block routes used by tankers, disrupting supplies to Bamako.

Universities and colleges in the capital said they were forced to suspend classes because students and teachers could not reach campuses due to the shortage.