New Delhi, Oct. 29 -- The U.S. Embassy in Mali told American citizens Tuesday to leave the country by plane because of the threats of terrorism and a severe fuel crisis stemming from a jihadi group's blockade of fuel tankers entering the landlocked West African nation.

"U.S. citizens should depart using commercial aviation, as overland routes to neighboring countries may not be safe for travel due to terrorist attacks along national highways," the U.S. Embassy in Bamako said on its website.

It was the embassy's second alert in three days after an Oct. 25 advisory for U.S. citizens not to travel to Mali due to "crime, terrorism, kidnapping" and other reasons.

The al-Qaida-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, or JNIM, annou...