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Mali's military government is putting a price on the Sahel's most wanted men. The crackdown follows a deadly wave of coordinated attacks that marked one of the most serious security setbacks for the country in more than a decade. Reports suggest a $3.5 million bounty has been announced for information leading to the capture of the founder and leader of JNIM. JNIM is al-Qaeda's main affiliate in the Sahel and one of the region's most powerful armed groups. Authorities have also offered rewards for information on other senior figures, including JNIM commanders and Tuareg separatist leaders,
who are fighting for an independent state in the northern part of Mali. But this isn't just a localized manhunt. It is part of a broader security escalation. Mali is increasingly shifting toward a wartime security posture. Alongside the bounties, the government has announced a series of new restrictions. The sale and use of large motorcycles has been banned outside major cities. Security officials say that armed groups frequently use motorbikes to move fighters, conduct raids, and strike supply routes.
Bamako has also designated 35 new military zones across parts of central, southern, and western Mali. These areas are now off-limits to civilians. The government says that many of the locations have been used as sanctuaries by armed groups. The military has vowed to target any terrorist presence inside them. The measures follow a series of coordinated attacks that shook Mali in recent months. In late April, a wave of highly coordinated strikes hit vital military positions, supply lines, and towns around the capital.
The attacks targeted Mali's military leader, army general Assimi Goïta, who managed to escape unscathed. But the state suffered a devastating blow. The attackers successfully assassinated Mali's defense minister, Sadio Camara. Malian authorities have officially classified the attacks as a failed coup attempt. The loss of the defense chief and the attack on the capital city of Bamako has shattered any illusion that the terrorist network is confined to the remote northern borders.
JNIM has evolved far beyond a disjointed guerrilla network operating fluidly across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. And as the security challenge grows, Bamako is also deepening its partnership with Moscow. Russia's paramilitary group, the Africa Corps, has been holding the front line with the Malian army to prevent a total state collapse at the hands of terrorists. Malian officials say security cooperation with Russia remains central to their strategy against terrorist and rebel groups.
Russia will always support Mali so that we can stay on our feet and so that we can expel all these terrorists and their foreign sponsors from Mali. Our presence here testifies to the firm will of the interim president, army general Assimi Goïta, to raise the partnership between Mali and Russia to higher levels of sovereignty and development. For Mali's military leadership, the bounties, the new security restrictions, and its partnerships abroad are all part of the same objective: regaining control of territory, protecting key economic routes, and reducing the ability of armed groups to operate across the country.
Mali believes it is facing an existential threat, and the Mal is now mobilizing the entire state to push back against the men it blames for its security crisis. From breaking news to the day's biggest controversies. Shedding light on the world's top headlines. Detailed analysis on the stories that matter the most to you. Catch it all on Spotlight at 6:00 p.m. India time and 12:30 GMT only on Firstpost. The world moves fast. Power shifts, unexpected developments, changing alliances. Every day brings a new headline. But headlines are only the beginning because behind every story, there is context. There are
consequences, and there are questions worth asking. Find the answers, understand the story, take on the world. This is Him Kaur Saroya for Firstpost Vantage.
