The Mali fuel blockade by al-Qaeda-linked JNIM has choked Bamako, torched 300+ tankers and stalled the economy. Here's why it matters.
JNIM blockaded Mali's fuel since September 2025, destroying 300+ tankers and cutting 95% of Bamako's fuel imports. The siege signals that Sahel lithium and gold security now depends on controlling supply corridors, not just host-nation governance.
MALI · GEOPOLITICS
Key Facts
—Who: JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has blockaded fuel into southern Mali since September 2025.
—Scale: More than 300 fuel tankers have been destroyed on the routes from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.
—Chokehold: Landlocked Mali draws roughly 95% of its fuel through Senegalese and Ivorian roads.
Mali has been paralysed by a fuel blockade, which has disrupted transport, schools, hospitals and more.
More than 300 petrol tankers make it to Bamako under military escort a week after pumps run dry.
Jihadists have been targeting tankers entering Mali, worsening the country’s fuel shortage.
Political instability and fuel shortages caused by rebel group is driving Mali to brink of becoming Islamist republic
BAMAKO, Mali: A West African armed group affiliated to Al-Qaeda set fire to fuel tankers in Mali over the weekend, videos showed,…
DAKAR: By waging an economic blockade and conducting attacks on fuel convoys, the militant group JNIM has made itself the arch…
