Mali army holds back 70 Allied Gold trucks as militants block fuel imports

By Portia Crowe DAKAR, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Mali's military has prevented about 70 fuel trucks from travelling to Allied Gold's Sadiola mine after al Qaeda-linked militants imposed a blockade on fuel imports to the landlocked country, two people familiar with the matter said. Fuel supplies are dwindling at the remote gold mine, located some 650 km (400 miles) from the capital Bamako, they said. Mali's military government, which took power after coups in 2020 and 2021, is facing growing pressure from militant groups who analysts say are trying to encircle cities and towns in the Sahel region. "We are telling all traders who import diesel and gasoline into Mali, whether from Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, or Mauritania, to stop doing so until further notice," a Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) militant spokesperson said in a video announcing the blockade in early September. "Why? Because these bandits in power are persecuting people, closing their gas stations, and cutting off fuel to villagers under the pretext that they are supplying jihadists." In recent weeks, armed forces have kept many of the fuel tankers destined for Sadiola in the town of Diboli on the border with Senegal, while several others are being held in the town of Kayes, about 75 km north of Sadiola, until soldiers can escort the trucks to the site, both sources said. Three tankers managed to reach the site under military escort this week, one of the sources said. In Mali, companies can sometimes wait weeks or months to secure military escorts due to limited availability. Spokespeople for Allied Gold and for the Malian military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Last month, at least 40 fuel tankers were destroyed when insurgents attacked a convoy of more than 100 vehicles under military escort heading for Bamako. In May, militants attacked a convoy transporting heavy mining equipment from Bamako to Sadiola, underscoring widening security risks facing mining companies operating in a military-led country struggling to contain jihadist groups. (Reporting by Portia Crowe; editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Mark Heinrich)

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