The African Union has called for an urgent international response, including intelligence-sharing, to address worsening security conditions in Mali, where insurgents are imposing a fuel blockade and kidnapping foreigners. An Al Qaeda-linked jihadist group active in West Africa’s Sahel region has blocked fuel imports since September, attacking convoys of tankers and creating a shortage that forced schools and businesses to shut. The latest show of force by the group, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, has raised concern that it might eventually try to impose its rule over the landlocked country. Western countries including the U.S., France, Britain and Italy are urging their citizens to leave.

Full report : African Union calls for urgent action in insurgency-hit Mali.