Fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group have launched a significant assault on the Kenieroba Central Prison, southwest of Bamako, Mali, a facility known as "Africa's Alcatraz" which holds 2,500 inmates, including JNIM fighters and individuals arrested following recent large-scale attacks. Concurrently, JNIM fighters have reportedly set fire to trucks carrying food supplies destined for the capital, Bamako, and have established checkpoints, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis and potential starvation in the city of four million and across Mali. This escalation follows coordinated offensives by JNIM and Tuareg separatists on April 25 and 26, which targeted military bases and resulted in the death of the Malian Defence Minister, Sadio Camara, and at least 23 others. In the aftermath, Mali's military government has arrested numerous former and current military personnel, civil society members, lawyers, and opposition figures, accusing them of colluding with the militant group.