A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Mali's capital has been hit by a more than two-months-long fuel blockade. Tankers importing fuel into the landlocked African nation have been ambushed and attacked by militants linked to al-Qaida. As pressure mounts on the ruling military junta, the U.S. and other nations are urging their citizens to leave. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu reports.
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: The insurgency in Mali has rarely reached the capital city, but now Bamako feels firmly in its grip.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK HONKING)
AKINWOTU: A convoy of fuel tankers arrive safely in the capital, but the journey is increasingly treacherous. Dozens of tankers traveling from ports in neighboring Senegal and Cote D'Ivoire have been targeted by militants. The blockade has had a crippling effect on daily life. The price of fuel has soared, and long queues form at fuel stations across the city.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: Frustrations are building, said a bakery owner in Bamako.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: He says his business is close to collapse. And like many others, he's now operating at reduced hours. He refused to share his name for fear of arrest by Mali's military rulers, who've clamped down on open dissent. Mali's junta has increased protection for tankers en route to the capital, but they're facing their toughest crisis since taking power in a coup in 2021. Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin - known as JNIM or JNIM - have gradually pushed closer to Bamako and are now operating within 30 miles of the city.
ULF LAESSING: Bamako is facing an unprecedented crisis.
AKINWOTU: Ulf Laessing is based there and is the director of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a pro-democracy think tank. He said it appears the strategy from the militants was not to take over the city, but to cause disruption and anger.
LAESSING: Stir protests against the government so maybe the next regime will be more friendly towards talking to them. The previous government, the previous elected government was willing to speak to jihadist, but France opposed it at the time.
AKINWOTU: Mali's military took power promising security. The junta cut ties with deeply unpopular former colonial ruler France, expelling its military force and replacing them with Russia's Wagner mercenaries, now known as Africa Corps, controlled by the Russian government. But insecurity has only grown worse.
LAESSING: I'm skeptical how we will go back to the precrisis level. I expect a long war of attrition from the jihadists, who try wear down the population so people get frustrated and protest at the end against government.
AKINWOTU: For now, Mali's government, supported by Russian mercenaries, is fighting to ease the blockade. But JNIM's grip in Mali and the Sahel is tightening.
Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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