Dozens of vehicles burnt as Mali jihadists enforce blockade

Dozens of vehicles burnt as Mali jihadists enforce blockade and the capital is slowly being cut off from the fuel it needs to survive.

The latest attack happened about 45 kilometers west of Bamako. Videos verified by the BBC show the charred skeletons of fuel tankers, minibuses, and trucks lining the road. Blackened metal. Twisted frames. The attackers pulled drivers and passengers out before setting the vehicles on fire. No casualties have been reported this time. The warning is the message. Nothing gets through without permission. And permission is not being granted.

The group behind the blockade is Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin. They are linked to al-Qaeda. They imposed the fuel blockade last year. After attacking Bamako last month, they tightened their grip. More than a hundred fuel trucks have been burned on major highways since then. Some convoys still make it through under military escort. Most do not. Drivers are kidnapped. Cargo is destroyed. The fear is permanent.

Mali is landlocked. It depends almost entirely on fuel trucked in from Senegal and Ivory Coast. JNIM knows this. The blockade is designed to suffocate the economy and humiliate the military government. Gen Assimi Goïta seized power in 2020 promising to crush the armed groups and restore security. Five years later, the capital itself is under siege. In January, he appointed a brigadier general to lead a special operation against the blockade. The attacks have not stopped.

The junta had popular support when it took over. People were exhausted by a security crisis that started with a separatist rebellion in the north and was hijacked by Islamist militants. The military promised to be different. It brought in Russian mercenaries. It vowed to make the country governable again. Instead, much of the north and east remains lawless. Last month, ethnic Tuareg separatists and JNIM launched coordinated attacks across the country. The defence minister was killed by an apparent suicide truck bombing near the capital.

BBC Verify matched the latest video to satellite imagery. NASA’s fire detection system picked up a heat signature at the exact location on Tuesday. The evidence is undeniable. The blockade is tightening. The junta is struggling. Bamako is watching the roads burn and waiting for fuel that may never arrive.