Mali: "blocus" jihadiste dans l'Ouest, transports et échanges avec le Sénégal perturbés
Jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) have imposed a "blockade" on areas of western Mali, attacking transport vehicles and disrupting trade with Senegal, where essential products such as fuel come from, Malian economic operators told AFP on Friday.
Mali, a poor, landlocked country, imports most of its products. Those transported by road from the port of Dakar to Bamako pass through the north. Others arrive from Mauritania.
Goods are also transported from the Ivorian port of Abidjan, in the south of the country.
On Wednesday evening, the GSIM announced the implementation of a blockade on the Malian regions of Kayes and Nioro (west), border areas with Senegal and Mauritania respectively.
The jihadist group wants to prevent the entry of imported fuel, particularly from Senegal, and has threatened transporters with burning their tanker trucks or killing the drivers.
For several weeks, it has been increasing attacks against economic and industrial targets, with the aim of weakening the junta in power in Mali since two coups d'état in 2020 and 2021.
In Nioro du Sahel, a town in the Nioro region, "access to the town is closed" due to the jihadist blockade, a resident told AFP on Friday.
"We usually bring fuel from Senegal, but we decided to stop our operations for the time being. The jihadists have already burned buses and we don't want to suffer any damage," a manager of a Malian transport company told AFP.
The head of a company transporting passengers between Bamako and Dakar via Kayes told AFP on Friday that he had also "stopped his activities until further notice, given the security situation."
Both spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
"The state is taking steps to ensure the safety of property and people on the Bamako-Dakar road axis," a source close to the Ministry of Transport told AFP.
Since 2012, Mali has been facing a security crisis fueled by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS), as well as from community-based criminal gangs.
The regime, which pursues a sovereignist policy and has turned its back on the former French colonial power, has also moved closer to Turkey and Russia.
Commentaires (26)
L'économie sénégalaise est en danger.
Presque 30% des recettes du port c'est grâce au commerce avec le Mali.
Le Sénégal et la Mauritanie ne doivent pas rester sans rien faire.
Si le Mali tombe, le Sénégal risque de suivre.
Le Mali seul ne peut pas contenir les jihadistes . Mais concernant le Sénégal , ils ont juste une seule frontière à gérer
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