Jihadists in troubled Mali began a road blockade on the capital Bamako on Thursday, following up on weekend attacks alongside mainly Tuareg separatists against the ruling junta’s positions, AFP learned from security and transport sources.
On Tuesday, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied with Al-Qaeda) had announced its intention to impose a blockade on access routes to Bamako, threatening severe reprisals against anyone still travelling on roads leading to the capital or the nearby town of Kati, a junta stronghold.
“The only concession is being made for those already in Bamako to allow them to leave,” a JNIM spokesperson stated.
The past two days had seen traffic towards Bamako thin out, according to road users, though air traffic remained unaffected.
On Thursday, hundreds of passenger and goods vehicles were stranded at several entry points into the city, transport operators said, notably on routes leading out to Conakry, Abidjan, and Dakar, port cities in neighbouring states vital to landlocked Mali’s economy.
“We’ve been stuck here since yesterday (Wednesday). There are at least a hundred vehicles parked here as far as the eye can see,” a lorry driver said, speaking from the border town of Kouremale.
“We’re waiting for things to settle down, but anxiety is mounting,” he told AFP.
On the road to Sikasso, another vital route linking Mali to Ivorian seaports, including Abidjan, several sources reported violent incidents, with one security source telling AFP a number of drivers had been killed — though it was not possible to verify the claim.
Late last year, the JNIM attempted to cripple the Malian economy by imposing blockades on the supply of petrol and diesel being trucked in from the Ivory Coast and Senegal in particular.
