The US embassy in Mali has issued a warning about a possible terrorist attack in the capital, Bamako, which might target critical government facilities and public areas.
Since March 2021, the US embassy in Mali has issued three security alerts.
The latest warning comes only days after suspected militants massacred 22 villagers in Mali’s northern Menaka area.
Armed men associated with the Islamic State organization planned the attack, according to Malian media.
After militants killed six soldiers in the central Mopti district on April 24, Mali’s military-led government increased security in Bamako.
The withdrawal of French military from Mali has been blamed for the rise in insecurity in the country’s north.
This is coming after French troops in Mali captured a senior member of the Sahel affiliate of the Islamic State group Oumeya Ould Albakaye.
Albakaye will be held by French forces for questioning for several days and then handed to the Malian authorities.
Albakaye was a regional head in the group, managing the districts of Gourma in Mali and Oudalan in neighboring Burkina Faso. He was an explosives expert.
According to the military, he is responsible for a huge number of civilian abuses in those countries.
Within the next few months, France will complete its withdrawal from Mali, handing over control of its key military station at Gao to Malian soldiers.
After the military seized power in Bamako in August 2020, relations between Mali and France deteriorated.