Mali’s army stops 70 Allied Gold trucks because rebels are blocking fuel imports
Mali is a landlocked country that has been blocked by rebels with ties to al-Qaeda. Two people familiar with the situation say that the military has stopped about 70 fuel trucks from going to Allied Gold’s (AAUC.TO) Sadiola mine.
They said that the gold mine, which is about 650 km (400 miles) from the city Bamako, is running out of fuel.
Militant groups are putting more and more pressure on Mali’s military government, which took over after coups in 2020 and 2021. Analysts say these groups are trying to surround cities and towns in the Sahel area.
A spokesman for the militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) said in a video released in early September, “We are telling all traders who bring diesel and gasoline into Mali from Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, or Mauritania to stop doing so until further notice.”
“Why?” Because the people in power are bad guys who are harassing people, closing gas stations, and denying fuel to villages on the grounds that they are providing jihadists with fuel.
In the past few weeks, the military has kept many of the fuel tankers that were going to Sadiola in the town of Diboli, which is on the border with Senegal. Other trucks are being held in the town of Kayes, which is about 75 km north of Sadiola, until troops can take them to the site, according to two different sources.
One of the sources said that three tankers were able to get to the spot this week with the help of the military.
Companies in Mali may have to wait weeks or even months to get armed escorts because they are so hard to find.
When asked for comments, Allied Gold and Mali’s military spokespeople did not reply right away.
Insurgents attacked a group of more than 100 cars headed for Bamako last month, destroying at least 40 fuel tankers. The vehicles were being escorted by the military.
In May, militants attacked a convoy taking heavy mining equipment from Bamako to Sadiola. This showed how mining companies working in a country run by the military that is fighting to control jihadist groups face greater security risks.
