Mali’s junta has taken a new step in its territorial reconquest strategy. Through a ministerial order published on Friday, June 5, 2026, authorities in Bamako designated military interest zones covering about forty forests across the country. These areas, now reserved for operations by the Malian Armed Forces, are strictly off-limits to any civilian presence. The measure explicitly targets presumed sanctuaries of jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State in the Sahel and the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
A security map reshaping land use
The order lists precise forest massifs spread over several regions. Wooded areas in central and southern Mali, long used as hideouts by armed fighters, feature prominently. By locking access to these spaces, the junta aims to cut logistical lines of the katibas and facilitate aerial targeting without risk to populations.
The choice of forests as regulatory targets is no coincidence. For over a decade, these massifs have served as gray zones where subsistence economies, smuggling, and insurgency intertwine. Villagers collect firewood, medicinal plants, and game, while herders move livestock through them. The new legal regime upends this balance, placing these resources under de facto military control.
Concretely, any civilian incursion becomes punishable, and sweeping operations can be deployed without warning. The text follows the tough doctrine of the colonels in power since the double coup in 2020 and 2021, who broke with French military presence and shifted security architecture toward Russian partners.
A military gamble with heavy humanitarian consequences
The tactical effectiveness of this measure will depend on the ability of the Malian Armed Forces and their auxiliaries to hold forest terrain long-term. Heliborne operations and targeted strikes, central since the departure of the UN stabilization mission in 2023, now have an expanded legal framework in these forbidden zones. For Bamako, it also signals to public opinion a recovery of initiative against insecurity that has spread southward, even to the outskirts of Bamako and Kayes.
Yet social consequences could be considerable. Tens of thousands of residents live near the targeted massifs and derive substantial income from forest activities. The ban risks weakening rural communities already strained by drought, food inflation, and closure of cross-border markets. The precedent in Burkina Faso, where similar military interest zones were established in 2023, shows a correlation between expanding militarized perimeters and massive internal displacement.
A Sahelian convergence toward militarization of spaces
Mali’s approach fits a broader regional trend. Burkina Faso and Niger, partners in the Sahel States Confederation, have since 2024 multiplied exceptional territorial measures to regain control from armed groups. This doctrinal convergence reflects a shared view of security sovereignty, based on physical control of peripheral spaces and temporary suspension of certain customary usage rights.
International partners watch this turn with caution. Human rights organizations have repeatedly documented abuses in areas under enhanced military rule. The junta’s ability to balance operational effectiveness and respect for civilian populations will be closely scrutinized, especially by West African neighbors and remaining donors in the country.
Economically, establishing these perimeters could also affect artisanal mining concessions and some gold operations near the targeted forests. The government has not yet specified compensation or relocation modalities for affected populations.
