CHIKUN/KAJURU REP, HON. FIDELIX BAGUDU, ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE. (PHOTO).
Terrorists attack Mali's fuel tanker convoy
Terrorists have attacked a fuel tanker convoy travelling through Mali after weeks of relative calm and improved fuel supplies.
Since September, terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda have imposed a fuel blockade on Mali which has included attacks on fuel convoys coming primarily from Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, through which the majority of Mali's imported goods transit.
However, no known attack had been carried out for the past month as sources reported the existence of an unofficial truce between the terrorists and the government aimed at easing the blockade.
The Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, JNIM, claimed responsibility for the ambush on "a Malian army convoy escorting tanker trucks" near the southern city of Bougouni.
The Malian army also confirmed the attack, saying that its escort "came under fire from terrorists on the Bougouni-Bamako road", adding that the situation was "under control" and that "damaged tankers were taken care of by the forces".
Improved supplies
It added that the rest of the tanker convoy was escorted to its destination.
An AFP journalist observed several dozen tankers arrive in Bamako Saturday morning on the road from Bougouni, which leads from Côte d'Ivoire.
According to a security source in the city of Sikasso who spoke to AFP, the scale of damage was "significant" and "more than twenty tanker trucks were reduced to ashes".
"The attack took place a short distance from Bougouni, on the road leading to the capital" the source said.
Fuel tanker convoys had recently started returning to Bamako from Côte d'Ivoire and Niger.
A security source said supplies of fuel had improved both because of the extensive army operation and a dip in JNIM attempts to maintain the blockade.
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