{{Short description|2025 Jihadist fuel blockade}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Mali fuel blockade | place = Kayes Region, Koulikoro Region, Segou Region, Mopti Region, Sikasso Region, and elsewhere in Mali | partof = Mali War of the Sahel War | date = September 3, 2025 – present | status = * At least 300 tankers destroyed | combatant1 = {{flag|Mali}}<br>{{flag|Russia}} | combatant2 = {{flagdeco|ISIS}} Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin | commander1 = {{flagdeco|Mali}} Assimi Goïta<br/>{{flagdeco|Mali}} Famouké Camara<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Mali, General Appointed to Win Bamako's 'Fuel War' |work=Africa Defense Forum |date=13 January 2026 |access-date=25 April 2026 |url=https://adf-magazine.com/2026/01/in-mali-general-appointed-to-win-bamakos-fuel-war/ }}</ref> | commander2 = Unknown | casualties1 = Unknown | casualties2 = 2+ soldiers killed | casualties3 = Unknown }}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}}{{Campaignbox Mali War}}
An ongoing fuel blockade is being administered by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) against cities in southern Mali. The blockade began on September 3, 2025, when JNIM spokesman Abou Houzeifa al-Bambari announced it in a video. Since the start of the blockade, over 300 fuel tankers have been destroyed en route from Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Guinea. Some fuel was able to enter the towns of Bamako, Ségou, Kayes, San, and Mopti in November and December 2025.
Analysts have referred to the blockade as a siege<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vandermeersch |first=Sebastian |date=2025-12-03 |title=Mali Under Siege: Tracking the Fuel Blockade Crippling Bamako |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12/03/mali-under-siege-tracking-the-fuel-blockade-crippling-bamako/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=bellingcat |language=en-GB |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203161056/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12/03/mali-under-siege-tracking-the-fuel-blockade-crippling-bamako/ |url-status=live }}</ref> on Mali, and purported that the blockade was an attempt to put pressure on the Malian junta and eventually take over Bamako and other cities.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Is Mali about to fall to an al-Qaeda-affiliated armed group? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/video/inside-story/2025/11/9/is-mali-about-to-fall-to-an-al-qaeda-affiliated-armed-group |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=13 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213113002/https://www.aljazeera.com/video/inside-story/2025/11/9/is-mali-about-to-fall-to-an-al-qaeda-affiliated-armed-group |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Faucon |first=Benoit |date=2025-10-30 |title=Al Qaeda Is on the Brink of Taking Over a Country |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/al-qaeda-is-on-the-brink-of-taking-over-a-country-ffd35ea4 |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=5 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251205175104/https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/al-qaeda-is-on-the-brink-of-taking-over-a-country-ffd35ea4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=esennett |date=2025-11-25 |title=Mali is at a turning point that risks a 'disastrous domino effect' |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/mali-is-at-a-turning-point-that-risks-a-disastrous-domino-effect/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US |archive-date=8 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251208013731/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/mali-is-at-a-turning-point-that-risks-a-disastrous-domino-effect/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The blockade eased in early 2026, due to negotiations with the government and increased military activity, though JNIM's preparations for the 25 April offensive also may have been a reason. JNIM announced a full blockade on Bamako on 28 April.<ref name="CT-30042026" />
== Background == Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin is an al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition of jihadist groups formed in 2017 that is currently waging an insurgency against the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, with a presence in Benin and Togo.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Nsaibia |first=Heni |last2=Beevor |first2=Eleanor |last3=Berger |first3=Flore |date=2023 |title=Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin |url=https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/JNIM-Non-state-armed-groups-and-illicit-economiesin-wWest-Africa-GI-TOC-ACLED-October-2023.pdf |journal=Non-State Armed Groups and Illicit Economies in West Africa |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=11 |archive-date=13 December 2025 |access-date=5 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213010427/https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/JNIM-Non-state-armed-groups-and-illicit-economiesin-wWest-Africa-GI-TOC-ACLED-October-2023.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In areas under its influence, the group has taxed vehicles transporting people or commodities across Mali and between Mali, Burkia Faso, and Niger.<ref name=":3" /> These activities have largely occurred in and around Mopti Region, Tombouctou Region, and Gao Region, where the group holds the most influence.<ref name=":3" /> Despite Malian government efforts through the deployment of the Russian Wagner Group and Turkish drones, JNIM has expanded further south into Koulikoro Region and Sikasso Region in 2024 and 2025.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Salafi-Jihadi Areas of Operation in West Africa Interactive Map and Campaign Analysis |url=https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/salafi-jihadi-areas-of-operation-in-west-africa-interactive-map-and-campaign-analysis |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Critical Threats |archive-date=26 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251126142512/https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/salafi-jihadi-areas-of-operation-in-west-africa-interactive-map-and-campaign-analysis |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2025, JNIM launched a failed simultaneous attack on Malian military outposts in Kayes, Ségou, Bamako, and other sites in western and southern Mali.<ref name=":5"/>
Mali, being a landlocked country, is entirely dependent on its coastal West African neighbors for imports like fuel. These fuel tankers are transported on roads coming from Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and sometimes Mauritania.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Ascofaré |first=Aly Asmane |date=2025-07-17 |title=Conquering Western Mali, part of jihadist strategy for regional domination |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/388239/conquering-western-mali-part-of-jihadist-strategy-for-regional-domination/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=The Africa Report |language=en |archive-date=5 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251205213530/https://www.theafricareport.com/388239/conquering-western-mali-part-of-jihadist-strategy-for-regional-domination/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 95% of Malian fuel imports come from Senegalese and Ivorian trading routes.<ref name=":4" /> The main road between Senegal and Mali, National Road 1 (NR1), goes through the city of Kayes. JNIM militants, preachers, and sympathizers had been spotted by locals in western Mali prior to the blockade. Their strategy was to play on tensions between village chiefs and residents, preach that Shari'a law was less corrupt and more fair than Malian government law, and gain a following large enough to become a JNIM cell.<ref name=":5" />
== Blockade ==
=== 2025 ===
==== September attacks ==== The blockade was announced on September 3, 2025, by JNIM spokesman Abou Houzeifa al-Bambari in a video released by JNIM's Az-Zallaqa Foundation.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=September 6, 2025 |title=Senegal says Truckers Kidnapped in Mali As Jihadists Declare Blockade |url=https://thedefensepost.com/2025/09/06/senegal-mali-jihadists-blockade/ |website=The Defense Post |access-date=5 December 2025 |archive-date=28 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251028011510/https://thedefensepost.com/2025/09/06/senegal-mali-jihadists-blockade/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The blockade was initially announced to pressue the Malian government to lift taxes on fuel imports in rural areas of the country, but later expanded to a method of pressuring the Malian government to acquiesce to the group's demands of imposing Sharia law in Mali.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=2025-10-21 |title=Islamist extremists have taken this country to the brink |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/21/mali-jnim-militants-fuel-blockade/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=27 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251227135627/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/21/mali-jnim-militants-fuel-blockade/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Residents of western Mali had said that since the announcement of the blockade, road traffic from Senegal had decreased.<ref name=":6" /> JNIM had also installed checkpoints demanding "taxes" from drivers.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-17 |title=Senegal-Mali trade threatened as militants set lorries ablaze near Kayes |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c708n1ry8k4o |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB |archive-date=19 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250919142313/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c708n1ry8k4o |url-status=live }}</ref> The blockade has brought entire villages to an economic standstill.<ref name=":8" /> Malian army spokesman Souleymane Dembele said that the blockade was fictitious and "information warfare orchestrated by foreign media", with "no systematic interruption of transport [has been] observed."<ref name=":8" />
On September 4, the group kidnapped two Senegalese truck drivers and four apprentices in Mali. This was confirmed by the Union of Road Haulage Operators of Senegal.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Seneweb |date=2025-09-06 |title=Six Senegalese drivers kidnapped: A strategy to suffocate Bamako (By Mohamed Rassoul Gueye) |url=https://www.seneweb.com/fr/news/Contribution/six-senegalese-drivers-kidnapped-a-strategy-to-suffocate-bamako-by-mohamed-rassoul-gueye_n_467272.html |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Seneweb |language=en}}</ref> The six drivers were freed and returned safely to Senegal on September 8.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MSKT |date=2025-09-08 |title=Senegal Truck Drivers Freed After Mali Jihadist Kidnapping |url=https://wadr.org/senegal-truck-drivers-freed-after-mali-jihadist-kidnapping/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=WADR |language=en-US |archive-date=13 October 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251013051059/https://wadr.org/senegal-truck-drivers-freed-after-mali-jihadist-kidnapping/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-06 |title=One of the Senegalese hostages in Mali opens up: "For security reasons, I will not talk about the perpetrators" |url=https://www.senenews.com/en/africa/one-of-the-senegalese-hostages-in-mali-opens-up-for-security-reasons-i-will-not-talk-about-the-perpetrators-9210.html |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=SeneNews in English – Senegal news, breaking news, Africa news and videos |language=en |archive-date=5 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260105144314/https://www.senenews.com/en/africa/one-of-the-senegalese-hostages-in-mali-opens-up-for-security-reasons-i-will-not-talk-about-the-perpetrators-9210.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The first attack on fuel tankers occurred between the towns of Kaniara and Lakamane in Kayes region. Videos recorded by JNIM fighters and onlookers showed a fuel tanker exploding, and other fuel tankers shot up on the road. One Malian military vehicle was also shown, with one visible death.<ref name=":0" /> The initial convoy consisted of 80 tankers, with Malian and Russian military escort.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mali – JNIM's Kayes Blockade Deepens: Ambush, Threats, and State Response {{!}} African Security Analysis |url=https://www.africansecurityanalysis.org/updates/mali-jnim-s-kayes-blockade-deepens-ambush-threats-and-state-response |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=www.africansecurityanalysis.org |archive-date=5 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260105023348/https://www.africansecurityanalysis.org/updates/mali-jnim-s-kayes-blockade-deepens-ambush-threats-and-state-response |url-status=live }}</ref> That same day, al-Bambari congratulated the fighters who carried out the attack in a video statement. The Malian Armed Forces confirmed the attack, and said that they "responded vigorously".<ref name=":0" /> Satellite imagery showed over 50 tankers at the site, 30 of which were blackened from burns.<ref name=":0" />
The second videographed attack was on September 19, between the villages of Neguela and Soribougou in Koulikoro Region. Nine burnt-out tankers can be seen on the road in satellite imagery from November.<ref name=":0" />
Other attacks on fuel tankers were reported between September 3 and September 16 between Sikasso and Zégoua and Niono and Ségou.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Philip |first=Brant |date=September 16, 202 |title=Mapping JNIM's devastating and ongoing two-week fuel blockade. Dozens, if not hundreds, of fuel tankers from Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Guinea have been destroyed, rendering the country's main roads practically unusable and strangling supply lines leading to the capital Bamako. |url=https://x.com/BrantPhilip_/status/1967956982935306609/photo/1 |access-date=December 4, 2025 |website=Twitter}}</ref>
==== October attacks ==== JNIM reported another ambush on fuel tankers between the towns of Kolondieba and Kadiana on October 17. Fighters on October 21 recorded the aftermath of this attack, with over 50 tankers being burnt.<ref name=":0" /> Another attack occurred near Sikasso on October 21, with over 40 tankers destroyed and one body holding a weapon visible at the scene.<ref name=":0" /> A third attack was claimed by JNIM on October 28 between Neguela and Soribougou, just north of the site of the September attack.<ref name=":0" />
Bamako received fuel on October 30, after nearly two months of the blockade. Imagery of fuel tankers entering the city was disseminated by Malian and Russian media, and showed large convoys of fuel tankers protected by military and mercenary vehicles.<ref name=":0" /> This footage was recorded just outside Bougouni, an area where Malian forces deployed more forces to combat the blockade.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />
==== November attacks ==== On November 1, JNIM released a statement saying that the blockade would be expanded to include fuel trucks entering Mali from Niger.<ref name=":2" /> JNIM claimed an attack on fuel tankers between Zegoua and Sikasso on November 6, with the attack being geolocated to the town of Fachoribougou.<ref name=":0" /> Since October 27, at least 1,200 tankers have been able to make it to Bamako under Malian military protection from Côte d'Ivoire and Bougouni.<ref name=":4" />
=== 2026 ===
==== January ==== JNIM insurgents ambush a fuel tanker convoy in western Mali near the Senegalese border, killing at least 15 people, and destroying the tankers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=AfricaNews |date=2026-02-02 |title=Deadly Jihadist attack hits fuel convoy in Western Mali |url=https://www.africanews.com/2026/02/02/deadly-jihadist-attack-hits-fuel-convoy-in-western-mali/ |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Africanews |language=en |archive-date=3 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260203191557/https://www.africanews.com/2026/02/02/deadly-jihadist-attack-hits-fuel-convoy-in-western-mali/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==== April–May ==== JNIM imposed a blockade again on 28 April, framing it as retaliation for Bamako residents helping the Malian army kill or capture JNIM militants during the 25 April offensive. Radio France Internationale reported roadblocks to the west of Bamako in Soribougou, to the southwest in Naréna, and to the south in Ouélessébougou.<ref name="CT-30042026" /><ref>https://www.reuters.com/graphics/MALI-SECURITY/SAHEL/zgvolldmopd/</ref>
== Effects == The fuel blockade has paralyzed Malian civil services.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> After the start of the blockade, citizens have been forced to wait in hours-long lines for fuel, and the little fuel that is able to make it into large cities is directed to Malian military and government facilities.<ref name=":0" /> Satellite imagery from May and October shows Bamako with less lighting as a result of the fuel blockade.<ref name=":0" /> The town of Mopti, among others, has been without fuel for over a month.<ref name=":4" /> Russia also announced that they planned on transporting 200,000 tons of petroleum to alleviate the crisis.<ref name=":4" /> The United Nations was also forced to withdraw from its emergency fuel stockpile in the country.<ref name=":7" />
Foreign embassies urged their citizens to flee the country in November 2025, partially due to the blockade but also due to a rise in kidnappings by JNIM in cities with a large military presence like Bamako.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=David |last2=Crowe |first2=Portia |last3=Bor |first3=Ayen Deng |date=October 31, 2025 |title=Deal reached to free UAE hostages in Mali, sources say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/deal-reached-free-uae-hostages-mali-sources-say-2025-10-31/ |access-date=December 4, 2025 |website=Reuters}}</ref> The United States embassy urged Americans to "depart immediately using commercial aviation" from Mali on October 28, followed by similar warnings by the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-28 |title=US embassy urges citizens in Mali to 'depart immediately' over safety concerns |url=https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20251028-us-embassy-urges-citizens-in-mali-to-depart-immediately-amid-fuel-blockade |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=France 24 |language=en |archive-date=4 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251204030050/https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20251028-us-embassy-urges-citizens-in-mali-to-depart-immediately-amid-fuel-blockade |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=TRT Afrika - US, UK pull some embassy workers from Mali |url=https://www.trtafrika.com/english/article/a88f887e1bc6 |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=www.trtafrika.com |language=en}}</ref> The US and UK both pulled diplomatic embassy staff as well.<ref name=":9" />
Malian schools shut down between October 26 and November 9 due to the blockade, according to a statement from Education Minister Amadou Sy Savane.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Mali shuts schools and universities as fuel crisis caused by jihadist blockade worsens |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2w0zpew0ko |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB |archive-date=3 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251203101751/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2w0zpew0ko |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-28 |title=Education in Mali Shuttered Amid Islamist Armed Group's Siege {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/28/education-in-mali-shuttered-amid-islamist-armed-groups-siege |access-date=2025-12-04 |language=en |archive-date=4 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251204095541/https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/28/education-in-mali-shuttered-amid-islamist-armed-groups-siege |url-status=live }}</ref> Many businesses remained closed from late October to mid November, and the government prioritized available fuel for Energie du Mali, the state-owned electricity provider. Many major towns experienced rolling blackouts or were left without power for weeks.<ref name="CT-30042026">{{Cite web |first=Liam |last=Karr |title=JNIM Continues Historic Offensive in Mali; Somali Piracy Revival Threatens Red Sea Shipping: Africa File, April 30, 2026 |work=Critical Threats Project |publisher=American Enterprise Institute |date=30 April 2026 |access-date=3 May 2026 |url=https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/mali-jnim-fla-somalia-shabaab-houthi-sudan-rsf-saf-nile-mozambique-prc-drc-m23-africa-file-april-30-2026 }}</ref>
=== Transportation === In the JNIM's initial statement on September 2, al-Bambari said that fuel tankers part of the Diarra Transport Company would be targeted by the group. al-Bambari accused the company of transporting Malian soldiers and military equipment.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=APA-Bamako (Mali) |date=2025-10-23 |title=Mali halts transport company over alleged terror group deal |url=https://apanews.net/mali-halts-transport-company-over-alleged-terror-group-deal/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=APAnews - African Press Agency |language=en-US |archive-date=2 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251202085217/https://apanews.net/mali-halts-transport-company-over-alleged-terror-group-deal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ban was lifted on October 17, after the CEO of the company agreed to JNIM's terms of segregating men and women, mandating women wear burqas, and compensation in case of an accident.<ref name=":10" /> In response to this, the Malian government suspended activities of Diarra Transport Company on October 23.<ref name=":10" />
JNIM fighters have been reported checking if buses adhered to these new stipulations in at least six instances.<ref name=":4" />
=== Offensive === The blockade also facilitated a JNIM offensive into southern Mali since September, where they took control of the town of Loulouni in Sikasso region.<ref name=":4" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:2025 in Mali Category:Military operations of the Mali War Category:Blockades Category:Wagner Group activities in Mali Category:Energy in Mali Category:Islamist insurgency in the Sahel