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Mali's junta-led administration has sought to calm growing frustration over a siege by Islamist militants on key roadways where lorry drivers have faced attacks and fire-related assaults.

In a rare admission of the seriousness of the situation, Head of Government Abdoulaye Maïga stated that measures are in progress to improve safety along these routes.

The closure—considered a serious escalation of Mali's militant uprising—is particularly impacting the supply of fuel, which could cripple the country.

The Sahel area of West Africa is regarded as the epicentre of global terrorism, representing over 50% of all terrorism-related deaths.

Several experts believe the goal of the affiliated militants is to enforce a siege of the capital, Bamako.

When Did It Start?

The blockade appears to have started with the abduction and later freeing of multiple Senegalese lorry drivers along the key transport route in early September.

It is not a new tactic by the extremist group's Sahel branch—Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)—but the scale is increasingly ambitious.

They have enforced a blockade on two critical areas: the Kayes region, which acts as the gateway for essential goods entering from Senegal by road and train, and Nioro-du-Sahel, which sits on the primary corridor linking Mali to Mauritania.

Accounts indicate that Islamist fighters have set up barriers to limit the movement of goods and extort payments from merchants.

They are said to have set fire to petroleum trucks, commercial vehicles, and buses, abducted foreign drivers, and assaulted vehicle groups carrying fuel imports from Senegal and Mauritania.

Entire villages have allegedly been pushed into an complete halt, with markets shuttered, transport halted, and public services disrupted.

Suspected JNIM militants have also attacked fuel lorries from Ivory Coast in Bougouni, located in Mali's Sikasso area. Multiple vehicles were destroyed by fire.

"Economic asphyxiation" is the insurgents' objective, according to Mamadou Bodian of Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop University.

He and additional experts point to a tactical change by the fighters, who no longer depend only on military confrontation to establish regional dominance.

Observers fear that, if effectively enforced, the blockade declared by JNIM on Kayes and Nioro-du-Sahel could paralyse the nation's western zone.

What Does the Army Say?

The Malian army initially minimized the blockade, with representative Col Souleymane Dembélé rejecting reports of a blockade as an "disinformation campaign" spread by international outlets.

Video circulating on social media of stranded vehicles on the trade route had been taken out of context, he insisted. "That footage" of the bus being burned is from April and has nothing to do with the so-called blockade."

According to the army spokesman, "no widespread halt" of transport has been observed" in the region, and the real challenge facing people in the Kayes region is "weather conditions" and not the activities of terrorist groups.

Col Dembélé also described JNIM's growing presence as "the last gasps of an enemy at bay." It is a refrain frequently repeated by Malian authorities since the junta took control five years ago.

Last week, the army said it had conducted an air attack on a JNIM camp in Mousafa, in Kayes, killing "several dozen militants and destroying a site allegedly used for logistics and operations.

Additional troops were sent to Kayes and Nioro-du-Sahel, it said, with the armed forces announcing "hunting and destruction operations along key highways and a "large-scale offensive on the transport route.

State media reported that captives were freed during the operations, but did not say how many.

Such efforts by the army do not appear to have lessened locals' fears nor the disruption to their lives. Residents report that insurgent barriers are still active, while transport companies have suspended operations and lorry drivers continue to face intimidation.

Strategic Significance of the Region

Kayes is said to account for around 80% of the nation's mineral output, and is also deemed Mali's "gateway to Senegal".

It is a transport center where global commercial pathways converge.

Mali is a nation without coastal access reliant on neighbouring ports for petroleum, food, and products, so management of Kayes is crucial.

The blockade not only disrupts local life, but directly threatens Bamako's economic stability.

"This area" has become a major strategic target for JNIM, which views it as a critical zone," notes the Senegal-located Timbuktu Institute.

"The jihadists intend to interrupt the nation's resources, to weaken, or even choke the Malian economic system, isolate the main city, and increase economic pressure on the Malian current government," it says.

The blockade also signals the geographic expansion of JNIM's rebellion.

Historically, the group's operations have been focused in the north and center—in key regions. However, JNIM has in the past few years made significant inroads into southern Mali, including additional areas.

By turning its attention to Kayes, the group is not only widening its footprint but risking to encircle Bamako.

Broader Implications

Since 2012, Mali has been in the throes of a profound security crisis fuelled by violence from factions linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) organisation, as well as other armed militia.

Local and international media warn that JNIM's recent isolation of parts of southern Mali could pave the way for comparable actions into adjacent nations.

The situation highlights the limits of Mali's dependence on military force, supported by Russian Africa Corps contractors, whose involvement in operations is not publicly confirmed.

By interfering with commercial pathways from Senegal and Mauritania, JNIM has shown it can project influence westward, creating concern of an expansion into those nations.

The Senegal Transport Association attributed the crisis to militants and described the recent abductions of lorry drivers as a threat to regional trade.

Mali is Senegal's primary African trade partner, representing over $1.4bn in outgoing goods last year. The transport corridor carries petroleum, construction materials, edible products, and industrial items critical to both nations.

There is a risk that what began as a tactical disruption may become a extended blockade, eroding confidence in Malian state institutions and exposing its vulnerability.

JNIM's "choice to target buses and tankers is significant—it aims to hit the core of Mali's social and economic mobility," Bamada.net reported last week.

Beyond a local flare-up, the siege of Kayes is a indicator that the jihadist insurgency in Mali has entered a different stage with the repercussions of economic sabotage extending well beyond Mali's borders.