A Kidal-based military officer of the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, said hostilities "will resume soon," while a spokesperson for the Malian general staff said during an April 6 briefing that the junta is pursuing a "strategy of war," RFI reported on May 7. The report also noted a highly unstable security environment in northern Mali, as al Qaeda Sahel affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, continues attacks in central Mali and maintains a blockade near the capital, leaving hundreds of cargo trucks stranded and dozens burned.

On April 25, JNIM conducted a series of coordinated attacks across northern, central and southern Mali, with pressure extending to areas near Bamako. In the north, some of the operations were reportedly carried out in coordination with the FLA. Three days later, JNIM also called for a united front against the junta and declared the imposition of a "total blockade" on Bamako.