Attack on fuel tanker convoy marks end to Mali's unofficial truce
Since September, jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda have imposed a fuel blockade on Mali, which has included attacks on fuel convoys coming primarily from Senegal and Ivory Coast, through which the majority of Mali's imported goods transit.
Dozens of cars and motorcycles formed long queues at gas stations as severe fuel shortage continued in Bamako, Mali on October 31, 2025. The fuel crisis had eased during an unofficial truce between militants and the army. (AFP)
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BAMAKO - Jihadists attacked a fuel tanker convoy travelling through Mali on Saturday, according to the militants and army, marking an end to an unofficial truce during which the country's fuel shortage eased.
Since September, jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda have imposed a fuel blockade on Mali, which has included attacks on fuel convoys coming primarily from Senegal and Ivory Coast, through which the majority of Mali's imported goods transit.
No known attack had been carried out for the past month, however, as sources reported the existence of an unofficial truce between the jihadists and the government.
The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) on Saturday claimed responsibility for an ambush on "a Malian army convoy escorting tanker trucks" near the southern city of Bougouni.
The Malian army said that its escort "came under fire from terrorists on the Bougouni-Bamako road", adding that the situation was "under control" and that "damaged tankers were taken care of by the forces".
It added that the rest of the tanker convoy was escorted to its destination.
An AFP journalist observed several dozen tankers arrive in Bamako Saturday morning on the road from Bougouni, which leads from the Ivory Coast.
According to a security source in the city of Sikasso who spoke to AFP, the scale of damage was "significant" and "more than twenty tanker trucks were reduced to ashes".
"The attack took place a short distance from Bougouni, on the road leading to the capital" the source said.
Fuel tanker convoys had recently started returning to Bamako due to escorts provided by the army and Russian paramilitaries from the Africa Corps -- the successor to the Wagner group -- under aerial surveillance.
Some had arrived under army escort from Niger, an ally that, like Mali, is also run by a military junta.
A security source said supplies of fuel had improved both because of the extensive army operation and a dip in JNIM attempts to maintain the blockade.
The unofficial truce between the government and jihadists was never officially acknowledged by authorities.
JNIM is the most influential jihadist group in Mali and represents the "most significant threat in the Sahel", according to the United Nations.
Mali has faced attacks both from local criminal gangs and Islamic militants such as JNIM for more than a decade.
The country's junta, which came to power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, is struggling to counter the various armed groups.