Journalism of Courage
Italy has warned its citizens against travel to the African nation of Mali, citing the worsening security concerns there. “Italian nationals already in Mali are urged to leave the country as soon as possible,” the Italian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The warning echoes one issued by the United States to its citizens on Tuesday. Germany and Australia had also urged their citizens to leave the country, which is in the midst of a fuel blockade by an Al Qaeda-linked militant group.
Located in West Africa, Mali is a landlocked country that shares its borders with Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania.
Mali has been in the grip of an unprecedented crisis after Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an Al Qaeda-linked militant group, declared a fuel blockade in September.
JNIM, which controls many rural areas, imposed the blockade since September 3, in retaliation for the military government’s ban on fuel sales in the countryside. It has imposed a fuel blockade on Kayes and Nioro, two Malian towns on the border with Senegal, and also targeted convoys attempting to deliver fuel to capital Bamako.
According to Africa Security Analysis, by closing these routes, JNIM demonstrates its ability to control cross-border mobility and disrupt supply lines vital to Malian military operations.
In a video posted online, JNIM leader Abou Houzeifa Al Bambari said they would not allow ‘even a single drop of fuel in’.
On September 14, JNIM also carried out a series of attacks in western Mali targeting convoys of fuel tankers originating from Senegal, leading to the current shortages across the country.
