Mali's military government has sought to calm anger over a blockade by Islamist militants on major highways where lorry drivers have been facing ambushes and arson attacks. In a rare acknowledgment of the seriousness of the situation affecting the landlocked country, Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga has said measures are under way to improve security on the routes. The blockade - a potentially serious escalation of Mali's jihadist insurgency - is particularly affecting the supply of fuel, which could cripple the country. The Sahel region of West Africa is known as the epicentre of global terrorism, accounting for more than 50% of all terrorism-related deaths. Several analysts say the aim of the al-Qaeda-linked militants is to impose a blockade of the capital, Bamako.
The blockade appears to have started with the kidnapping and subsequent release of six Senegalese lorry drivers along the Dakar-Bamako corridor in early September. Reports say Islamist fighters have erected checkpoints to restrict the flow of goods and extort taxes from traders. They are said to have torched fuel tankers, lorries, and buses, abducted foreign drivers, and attacked convoys carrying fuel imports from Senegal and Mauritania. The blockade not only disrupts local life but directly threatens Bamako's economic stability, with Kayes accounting for about 80% of the country's gold production and serving as a vital logistics hub for international trade routes.
Malian officials maintain that the blockade represents a last gasp of desperate enemies as security forces attempt to assert control. However, locals continue to face fears and disruptions, signaling a troubling potential for the insurgency to expand beyond Mali's borders.
The blockade appears to have started with the kidnapping and subsequent release of six Senegalese lorry drivers along the Dakar-Bamako corridor in early September. Reports say Islamist fighters have erected checkpoints to restrict the flow of goods and extort taxes from traders. They are said to have torched fuel tankers, lorries, and buses, abducted foreign drivers, and attacked convoys carrying fuel imports from Senegal and Mauritania. The blockade not only disrupts local life but directly threatens Bamako's economic stability, with Kayes accounting for about 80% of the country's gold production and serving as a vital logistics hub for international trade routes.
Malian officials maintain that the blockade represents a last gasp of desperate enemies as security forces attempt to assert control. However, locals continue to face fears and disruptions, signaling a troubling potential for the insurgency to expand beyond Mali's borders.
