Mali, along with Burkina Faso and Niger, continues to grapple with a decade-long jihadist insurgency linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, with violence spreading to coastal nations and causing increasing casualties, Reuters reported.

On Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department lifted sanctions on three senior Malian officials previously targeted for their links to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group. Defense Minister Sadio Camara and military officials Alou Boi Diarra and Adama Bagayoko were among those removed from the list. The Malian government has not immediately responded.

Cameron Hudson, a former CIA and State Department official who worked on Africa, told Reuters that the move reflects Washington’s broader strategy to re-engage with the Sahel. “The U.S. in recent months has substantially increased its engagement with Malian authorities in an effort to restart counterterrorism cooperation and to further underline the message that the U.S. will no longer be hamstrung in its foreign policy by disengaging in countries run by military juntas,” he said.

The Trump administration had previously prioritised shared interests with military-led governments in the Sahel, focusing on combating jihadist threats rather than limiting engagement, Reuters noted.

Recent efforts by Washington include resuming intelligence sharing with Mali to support counterterrorism operations. Last month, the top U.S. envoy to Africa, Nick Checker, visited Mali to discuss next steps for strengthening bilateral ties, according to the State Department.

Russia’s Wagner group, now largely defunct, has been folded into the Africa Corps. The three delisted officials were sanctioned due to their previous associations with the group.

Under the Biden administration, U.S. counterterrorism capabilities in the region were constrained after losing its main intelligence base in neighbouring Niger and being banned from conducting intelligence-gathering flights. This limited the ability to monitor jihadist activity across the Sahel.

The delisting of Malian officials signals a recalibration of U.S. engagement in West Africa, prioritising counterterrorism collaboration while maintaining formal relations with countries governed by military juntas