Senegal-Mali trading threatened when militants install trucks near the case

The military government of Mali sought to reassure the anger over the blockade of Islamist militants on large highways, where truck drivers were confronted with ambushes and attacks.

In the rare recognition of the seriousness of the situation affecting the country affected, Prime Minister Abdulla Maiga said he was taking steps to raise routes.

Blockade – the potentially serious escalation of the Jihadist Mali rebels – especially affects the supply of fuel that can cripple the country.

The Sahel region of Western Africa is known as the epicenter of global terrorism, is more than 50% of all deaths related to terrorism.

A number of analysts point out that al-Qaeda militants are to block the Bamako capital.

The blockade seems to have started with the abduction and the next issue of six Senegalese trucks drivers along the Dakar-Bamak corridor in early September.

This is not a new tactic According to the Sahel Branch al-Qaeda-jama’at nusrat al-ISLAM WAL-MUSLIMIN (JNIM) -B scale is becoming more ambitious.

They put a blockade on two key places: the Cesis region – which serves the gateway for all the food stocks that enter the Senegal on the road and the train, and NIORO -DU -SAHEl – sitting on the main route binding Maltania.

The reports state that Islamist militants erected checkpoints to limit the flow of goods and extorting “taxes” from traders.

Fuel tankers, trucks and buses are said to have set fire to foreign drivers and attacked the convoys that transported fuel imports from Senegal and Mauritania.

The whole village was reportedly brought to the economic stop, and the markets closed, stopped by transport and thwarted by public services.

The suspect that JNIM militants also ambushed fuel trucks from the ivory coast in Buguny, in the southern region of Sikas. Several trucks were set on fire.

“Economic asphyxia” is the purpose of militants, a mamado Bodin from the University of Chaikha Anta -Dengal told the BBC.

He and others indicate a strategic shift of militants who are no longer relying on military confrontation to claim territorial control.

Analysts are afraid that when it is successfully implemented, Embargo announced JNIM on Case and Niora-do-Sahel can paralyze Western Mali.

The Malian army initially reduced the blockade, and Colonel Suliman Dembele’s press -secretary dismissed the siege as “an information war organized by foreign media.”

The footage circulating in the social media besieged vehicles in the corridor of Dakar-Bamak were taken out of context, he insisted. “” Video about the bus that goes to the fire since April and has no connection with the so -called blockade. “

According to the Army press secretary, “there is no systemic break in Western Mali,” and the real problem facing people in the case of the case is “the rainy season, not the actions of terrorist groups.”

Colonel Dembele also characterized the increased activity of JNIM as “the last enemy lift in fear and retreat.” This is a refrain, which is often used by Malian officials since the junta captured power five years ago.

Last week, the army stated that she had a strike at JNIM camp in Musafa, in the case, killed “several dozen militants” and destroying the site that was allegedly used for logistics and planning.

According to the reinforcements, they were sent to Case and Niora-do-Sahel when the military announced “” hunting operations “on large roads and a” large-scale offensive “on the corridor of the dim-nyar.

State media reported that the hostages were released during the operations but did not say how much.

It seems that such efforts from the army did not reduce the fear of the locals, nor the violation of their lives. Residents report that militants are missed on the spot, while transport companies have suspended operations and truck drivers continue to face intimidation.

Case is said to be approximately 80% of the country’s gold production, as well as the “Gateway to Senegal” by Mali. It is a logistics center where international trade routes converge.

Mali is a country that greatly depended on the neighboring fuel, food and manufacture ports, so control over the case is important.

The blockade not only violates local life, but directly threatens Bamako’s economic stability.

“The Case region has become the main strategic goal for JNIM, which considers it a vital space,” says the Timbukta Institute founded in Dakar.

“The jihadists intend to disrupt the country’s supplies, destabilize or even smoke the Mali economy, isolate the capital Bamako and increase the economic pressure on the transitional regime of Mali,” the statement said.

The blockade also signals the geographical expansion of JNIM rebels.

Traditionally, the group operations were concentrated in Northern and Central Mali – in Mopti, Segou and Timbuktu. However, in recent years, JNI has made significant entry into South Mali, including Sikas and the regions of Kulikar.

Paying attention to the case, the group not only expands its mark, but also threatens to surround Bamako.

Since 2012, Mali has been in severe security crisis, which was fueled by violence by groups related to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), as well as with other armed militias.

Local and international media warning that the recent isolation of JNIM parts of South Mali can pave the way in similar invasions to neighboring coastal countries.

The crisis emphasizes the borders of Mali’s military force with the support of the mercenaries of Russian Africa, as we know, the Wagner group is now aware of the role of which is not officially recognized in operations.

Having violated the trade routes from Senegal and Mauritania, Jamni showed that he could design an impact on the West, causing fear of expanding these countries.

The Union of Senegalian truckers (URS) accused the militants and described recent abductions of truck drivers as a threat to regional trade.

Mali is the chief African trading partner of Senegal, which is more than $ 1.4 billion ($ 1 billion) last year. The Bamako-Kayes route carries fuel, cement, food and produced goods that are solved for both economies.

There is a risk that what has begun as a tactical violation can develop into a long siege, destroying confidence in the Malian state institutions and exposing its fragility.

The choice of JNIM “Choosing Bus and Tankers is not insignificant – it aims to strike at the center of social and economic mobility of Mali,” Bamada.net reports last week.

More than a local flash, the siege of Case is a pre-emptive sign that the Jihadists’ uprising in Mali had entered a new phase with the consequences of economic sabotage that reached Mali.