LAGOS: Mali’s government has moved to impose fuel rationing to counter widespread shortages caused by Al-Qaeda-linked groups operating in the border regions that have, in recent months, cut off fuel supplies to the landlocked African country.
In announcing the rationing, officials did not say when it would start.
The measure was cast as an effort to reduce long lines at gas stations, especially with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan only a few weeks away.
Since September, Al-Qaeda-linked militants and other extremists in Mali have increasingly attacked fuel trucks — more than a hundred trucks have been burned in the violence, which has crippled fuel imports and distribution.
Mali’s fuel importers’ union said that over 2,000 tanker trucks have entered the country since the start of the year — significantly fewer than the up to 6,000 per month that arrived prior to the attacks.
