A convoy of several dozen tankers was set on fire in Mali in a deadly assault that local officials blamed on jihadists, the latest escalation in a fuel blockade that had calmed in recent weeks.The attack took place Thursday on a road leading from the Senegalese border to the major city of Kayes in western Mali, said the sources, several of whom reported that “dozens” of tankers were destroyed.Jihadists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) said in a statement that they had ambushed the Malian army Thursday between the town of Diboli and Kayes, without mentioning the attack on the fuel tankers.Since September, JNIM has carried out a series of attacks on tankers as it waged a fuel blockade meant to cause shortages and strangle the landlocked country’s economy.However, the attacks have decreased in intensity in recent weeks and the latest assault marks the first of its size since early December.By additionally imposing a total blockade on several Malian cities, JNIM was able to cripple the economy, including in Bamako.But fuel supplies have improved significantly in the capital since last month, helping the economy to recover.The Thursday attack “happened between Diboli (located on the Senegalese border) and Kayes. Three Malian soldiers were killed and four attackers were killed”, a local official told AFP.A teacher living in the area estimated that “dozens” of trucks had been set on fire.A Malian National Petroleum Office official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that the attack “is a serious blow for us, but it doesn’t impact distribution or availability. We have a significant stock” of fuel.A customs official in Kayes also confirmed the Thursday attack to AFP, reporting dozens of tankers destroyed and saying that a count of the exact number was under way.Meanwhile, across the border, Modou Kayere, a union representative for Senegalese and west African transport groups, said that a call had been issued for drivers to stop at Kidira, the last major Senegalese town before Mali, while waiting for the situation to stabilise.But he said some drivers had already resumed their journeys into Mali.- Security crisis -According to a security source, military escorts for tankers on the road from Senegal, which is not widely used for fuel transport, had been suspended, with resources redirected to protect supplies mainly coming from Ivory Coast.”The authorities thought they had complete control over the supply chain with the new convoy plan. They wanted to build up as much stock as possible before Ramadan,” which begins in mid-February, the source told AFP.Impoverished Mali has been gripped by a security crisis since 2012, fuelled notably by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as criminal gangs.The junta, which seized power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, had promised to stem the jihadist insurgency but has achieved little success.In recent months, JNIM has also carried out a series of assaults on military installations and other targets in the country, as well as attacked numerous industrial sites where it has kidnapped several civilians, mostly foreigners.The kidnappings have allowed the jihadists to finance their activities through ransoms.str-lar-sd-lp-els-bfm/kjm/phz
