'How are we going to get back home?' Islamist group tightens blockade on Mali capital

Mali's capital city Bamako - a major West African hub and home to more than three million people - is under a partial blockade by Islamist militants, days after the country's defence minister was assassinated there."Our army isn't capable of protecting us, how are we going to get back home?" a mother-of-two told the BBC, unable to re-enter Bamako after visiting her parents out of town.She and many others have been stranded on the Bamako-Kéniéba highway, a major road out of the capital for almost a day.It follows Wednesday's warning by fighters from the group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) that "no-one will be allowed in any more".Last year, the Islamist groups imposed a fuel blockade on the city, causing shortages and a sharp increase in prices but they have now ordered a total blockade, leaving residents worried.Eyewitnesses told the BBC that at least three of the six main routes into the city are now closed for hours at a time before the fighters move elsewhere. While they're gone, some vehicles manage to slowly get through.Last weekend saw nationwide, coordinated attacks by an alliance of jihadists and separatist rebels in the north - the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) - seeking to overthrow the military regime of Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a coup in 2020. Mali's army has been working with the Russian paramilitary group, the Africa Corps, which emerged from the Wagner Group, against the insurgents.