BAMAKO, Mali (October 26, 2023) -โข A blockade enforced by militants linkedโ to โal-Qaida and the Islamic State group is plunging mali’s capital, Bamako,โข into โa desperate search for fuel, disrupting commerce โandโฃ raising fears of a wider humanitarian crisis. โTheโ armed group, โJama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), is targeting fuel tankers, burning trucks and killing driversโค in an escalating campaignโ to pressure theโค governmentโ and isolate military โauthorities.
The blockade, which has intensified in recent months, aims to undermine the Malianโฃ government’s legitimacy by severing vitalโ supply lines and forcing residents and commercial operators to distance themselves โคfrom โthe state. The crisis highlights the growing instability โคin the Sahel region, a vast semi-arid desert stretching across North and West Africa, where insurgencies are rapidly spreading.
According to the Malian Petroleum Importers โขAssociation, over 100 tanker trucks have been burned and destroyedโ by JNIM โfighters sinceโ theโ blockade began. Videos circulating on social โคmedia โฃappear toโค show JNIM holding truck drivers hostage, though โฃthe Associated Press hasโค beenโข unable to independently โคverify the footage. Relatives report that some drivers have been killed by theโ militants.
Lamine Kounta,โ a 38-year-old Bamako resident, saidโค two of his cousins from Ivory Coast – a driver andโ his apprentice – were killed by JNIM fighters โขat the end of September in the Sikasso region, near the โคborder with Ivory Coast. “They had nothing to do with this crisis or Mali. โMy cousins worked โฃfor an Ivorian roadโค constructionโ company โขand were in Mali โคtoโข get equipment when โthey encountered JNIM fighters, who killed them,” he said. The Ivorian company CIVOTECH confirmed the deaths of the two fuel tanker โขdrivers and an apprentice driver on Sept. 21 in the Sikasso region.
Beverly Ochieng, an analyst โคat the Controlโข Risks Groupโ consulting firm, explained that JNIM is strategically using the blockade toโ achieve its goals. “JNIM is using the โคblockade to pressure commercial operators and residents to distance themselves from the military authorities, therefore undermining the government’s legitimacy and authority,” she said.
In response to the embargo, the Malianโค army has begun escorting some truck โconvoysโ traveling between Bamako and the โฃborders with โSenegal andโค Ivory Coast.On Monday, theโ army announced โit had destroyed JNIM hideouts believed โคto be used by the fighters โขresponsible for โa โฃrecent attackโค on a tanker convoy in the Kolondiรฉba area, near the border with Ivory Coast.