Summary: Growing insecurity in the Sahel made 2025 one of the worst years on record for the abduction of foreigners in Africa.
When Marin Petrović arrived in Bamako in early September last year, he was elated. The Bosnian national had spent years applying for tourist visas to Mali, only to be repeatedly denied on security grounds.
The West African country has long been afflicted by civil war, foreign military interventions, and Islamist insurgencies.
"Now it was finally approved and I couldn't wait to start this trip," he wrote in Bosnian in a public Instagram post on 15 November 2025.
Original source: Read the original article on www.bbc.com
