For years, Mali has found itself in the crosshairs of a relentless jihadist insurgency. But in recent weeks, this West African nation has witnessed a dramatic escalation: militants linked to al-Qaida have launched a blockade targeting the country’s vital fuel supply lines, torching convoys and threatening to choke the capital, Bamako. The impact of this campaign is rippling across the region—fueling fears of economic paralysis, political instability, and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
The trouble began in early September 2025, when six Senegalese lorry drivers were kidnapped and later released along the crucial Dakar-Bamako corridor, according to BBC News. This bold move signaled a new tactic by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaida’s Sahel affiliate. The group then announced a ban on fuel imports from neighboring countries, and within days, reports emerged of entire convoys being set ablaze. By mid-September, militants had burned and destroyed around 100 trucks transporting fuel to Bamako, the Associated Press confirmed, with attacks concentrated near the city of Kayes, close to the Senegalese border.
“Around 100 tanker trucks have been set on fire over the past two weekends,” an official with the National Council of Employers of Mali told AP, quoting a report from the Malian fuel association. Viral videos soon surfaced, showing abandoned tankers engulfed in flames—a stark warning to those daring to defy the militants’ orders.
The Malian army, caught off guard by the scale and sophistication of the assault, scrambled to respond. On September 10, for the first time in Mali’s decade-long unrest, soldiers were deployed to escort fuel tankers, trucks, and buses from the Senegal border to Bamako, Le Monde reported. “We are determined to protect our fellow citizens and safeguard our territory,” Lieutenant Mamadou Coulibaly, head of the first escort mission, declared. But the threat was far from contained.
JNIM’s campaign is not limited to arson. The group has erected checkpoints along key highways, extorting “taxes” from traders, abducting foreign drivers, and attacking convoys from Senegal, Mauritania, and even Ivory Coast. Entire villages have ground to a halt: markets shuttered, public services disrupted, and hundreds of truck drivers stranded at borders, awaiting military protection. “Usually there are more than 100 fuel tanker trucks entering Mali from Senegal every day. All this traffic has come to a standstill today,” a fuel importer confided to AP, requesting anonymity out of fear.
The Kayes region, the epicenter of the blockade, is a logistics hub and accounts for approximately 80% of Mali’s gold production, making it a strategic prize. As the “gateway to Senegal,” control of Kayes means control of the lifelines that keep Mali’s landlocked economy afloat. “The Kayes region has become a major strategic target for JNIM, which considers it a vital space,” the Dakar-based Timbuktu Institute told BBC News. The group’s aim, analysts say, is clear: “to disrupt the country’s supplies, to destabilise, or even suffocate the Malian economy, isolate the capital Bamako and increase economic pressure on the Malian transitional regime.”
So far, the blockade’s economic toll is mounting. While there is no outright fuel shortage in Bamako as of mid-September, prices have spiked by about 10% and power outages have become more frequent, according to BBC News. The Union of Senegalese Truckers has blamed militants for threatening regional trade—no small matter, as Mali is Senegal’s main African trade partner, accounting for over $1.4 billion in exports last year. The Bamako-Kayes route ferries fuel, cement, foodstuffs, and manufactured goods critical to both economies.
Residents and business owners are increasingly anxious. “JNIM is using the blockade to pressure commercial operators and residents to distance themselves from the military authorities, therefore undermining the government’s legitimacy and authority,” said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks Group, speaking to AP. The strategy appears to be working: transport companies have suspended operations, and long queues have formed at bus stations as travelers seek alternatives or simply give up.
The Malian military’s response has oscillated between reassurance and escalation. Initially, army spokesman Colonel-Major Souleymane Dembele dismissed reports of a siege as an “information war orchestrated by foreign media,” insisting that “no systemic interruption of transport has been observed” and blaming the rainy season for delays. But as attacks intensified, the army launched airstrikes on a JNIM camp in Mousafa, Kayes, reportedly killing “several dozen militants” and destroying logistics sites. Reinforcements were sent to Kayes and Nioro-du-Sahel, with “hunting and destruction operations” announced along major roads.
Yet, these efforts have provided little solace to locals. Militant checkpoints remain in place, and the sense of insecurity persists. “The new method of communication by jihadists is meant to create the perception of a blockade in Kayes and Nioro,” Colonel-Major Dembele told reporters, downplaying the threat. Still, even he admitted the “increased use of drones and a proliferation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)” by militants.
The blockade is only the latest blow to a country already reeling from years of violence and political upheaval. Since 2012, Mali has been beset by attacks from groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State, as well as other armed militias. The insurgency, once confined to the north, has now spread southward, encroaching on Bamako’s outskirts. Recent military airstrikes have targeted Kayes, Segou, Nioro, and Kidal, but rights groups warn that civilians often bear the brunt.
Political instability further complicates the picture. The military junta, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, seized power in 2020, cut ties with Western allies, and turned to Russia’s Wagner Group—now known as Africa Corps—for support. Yet, a report by The Sentry described Wagner’s presence as a “multilayered catastrophe,” fueling heavy-handed tactics, operational failures, and worsening insecurity. Coup attempts continue, with the latest in August involving dozens of soldiers and a French national accused of espionage.
Meanwhile, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have withdrawn from the West African bloc ECOWAS, forming the Alliance of Sahel States—a move that further isolates the country as it grapples with mounting threats.
As the blockade drags on, its repercussions are being felt far beyond Mali’s borders. The specter of “economic asphyxiation” looms, not just for Bamako, but for the entire region. With trade routes disrupted, prices rising, and public confidence eroding, the insurgency has entered a dangerous new phase—one that may prove even harder to contain than the violence that preceded it.
The coming weeks will test the resolve of Mali’s government, its neighbors, and the international community. For now, the roads to Bamako remain fraught with peril, and the fate of a nation hangs, quite literally, in the balance.
