France urges citizens to leave Mali as armed group blockade intensifies

France has urged its citizens to leave Mali “as soon as possible” as an al-Qaeda-linked group, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), has been blockading fuel tankers since September, disrupting the flow of imported goods from Senegal and the Ivory Coast and upending daily life in Bamako and other regions of the West African country. Assistant professor of Anthropology at Lehigh University and Mali specialist, Bruce Whitehouse, joins us for more insights.