Over a dozen road transport companies have halted their operations to and from Bamako after jihadist groups imposed a crippling road blockade around the capital, setting multiple vehicles ablaze.

The Mali government faces mounting pressure following coordinated attacks on April 25 and 26 by militants from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked faction, along with the predominantly Tuareg rebel group National Liberation Front of Azawad (FNLA). These assaults targeted key positions held by the ruling junta.

Since April 30, jihadist forces have enforced a strict blockade on Bamako, cutting off several vital supply routes to the landlocked nation that relies heavily on road imports. The blockade has triggered severe disruptions across the capital.

“We decided to suspend services to safeguard passengers and protect our assets,” stated a transport agency manager to AFP on Monday. The manager, who requested anonymity, revealed that six buses were torched in attacks near Ségou on Saturday alone.

While more than ten transport firms have officially announced service suspensions, some have quietly ceased operations out of fear of reprisals from authorities who may compel them to resume, the manager added. Though major transport companies no longer operate on the six primary routes leading to Bamako, smaller minibuses continue sneaking into the city via alternate paths.

Fuel, electricity, and water shortages grip Bamako

Residents of Bamako are grappling with acute shortages of essential resources. Long queues formed at gas stations on Monday as diesel became nearly unavailable, AFP reported. Authorities claimed to have received over 700 fuel tankers through the corridor linking Bamako to Côte d’Ivoire last weekend. However, jihadists have recently torched multiple supply convoys and passenger buses.

Electricity supply in the capital has also deteriorated dramatically over recent days. “We went 72 hours without power. It only returned on the fourth day for three hours before cutting out again,” a local resident told AFP on Sunday evening. Énergie du Mali (EDM), the national power utility, attributed the blackouts to “an incident,” without elaborating. An EDM official, speaking anonymously, later confirmed that “terrorists” had sabotaged the power grid.

The water supply has also been hit by load shedding, with the Malian Water Management Company announcing disrupted services in several communes over the weekend.