Mali’s fuel supply stabilised despite jihadist violence

Mali’s fuel supply has been largely stabilised, despite the January 29th attack on a fuel tanker convoy by jihadist fighters, as reported by RFI and agencies on February 3rd.

Since January, the country’s fuel supply has improved through the import of at least 54 million litres of petroleum products, mainly from neighbouring countries. Between January 12th and 25th, more than 1,600 tankers delivered fuel to the landlocked Sahel nation.

However, the supply of electricity, which is heavily dependent on fuel, remains minimal. In the capital, Bamako, electricity has been rationed to a maximum of six to eight hours per day.

News of this stabilisation comes days after it was reported that a jihadist attack on a fuel tanker convoy killed at least 15 people, including soldiers escorting the convoy, on January 29th.

The attack occurred in the Western region of Kayes, on a road leading to the Senegalese border. According to local officials, dozens of tankers were set ablaze and destroyed by jihadist fighters; several soldiers who were escorting the convoy remain unaccounted for.

Recounting the ambush, one tanker driver, Moussa, said, “The terrorists set fire to the tanker trucks, killing the drivers and their assistants. All the drivers who were stopped, all those who couldn’t escape, were killed.”

Reflecting on the attack, Moussa said, “During the escape, along with other drivers, we encountered soldiers. They told us they were out of ammunition.”

He added, “This attack has created a climate of panic. We are truly afraid. A sick person’s hope is medicine… but it doesn’t prevent death. How can the soldiers escorting us tell us they’re out of ammunition?”

The al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for ambushing Malian forces in Kayes, but did admit to attacking the tanker convoy.

Since September 2025, Mali has been under a JNIM-imposed fuel blockade, with the group seeking to topple the military junta government, which seized power following a military coup in 2020, and establish an Islamic State in Africa.

Mali’s landlocked status and heavy reliance on fuel imports from neighbouring fuel-producing countries, such as Niger, have been exploited by JNIM, which blocked key supply routes and attacked fuel tanker convoys, even when being escorted by the Malian military.

To fund its campaign against the junta, JNIM also kidnaps foreign nationals for ransom payments as a form of “economic jihad“; the ransom payments are used to fund activities, pay fighters and acquire equipment.

RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org