Armed assailants attacked three industrial facilities and abducted several civilians in western Mali over the weekend, in what officials say is part of a jihadist campaign to weaken the country’s economy, local sources told AFP on Monday.
The attacks, which took place on Sunday in the Kayes region, caused extensive damage to the targeted sites, according to a Malian security source. The official said the assaults followed an ongoing economic blockade imposed by militants, adding that government reinforcements have been deployed to the area.
The Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist organisation, has in recent months intensified attacks on industrial and mining operations across Mali, while also enforcing a fuel blockade in the landlocked West African nation.
Ibrahima Diawara, chief executive of a factory near the town of Bafoulabe that produces calcium carbonate, lime and plaster, said his plant suffered significant destruction. He added that two other nearby facilities were also attacked and set ablaze.
According to Wamaps, a West African journalism collective focused on Sahel security, nearly 160 militants on motorbikes carried out the coordinated assaults. The group reported that three people were kidnapped, while a local elected official from the Kayes region said four civilians were taken.
The official noted that the same industrial sites had been targeted by jihadists several months earlier. By Monday afternoon, no group had claimed responsibility for the attacks or the abductions.
In June, JNIM warned it would strike industries and foreign companies operating in Mali without what it termed its “authorisation.” Since then, multiple industrial facilities—particularly in western Mali—have been attacked, and several civilians, mostly foreign nationals, have been abducted.
The kidnappings have provided a source of funding for jihadist operations through ransom payments. Meanwhile, the fuel blockade imposed by JNIM since September has severely disrupted daily life. At the height of the crisis in October and November, fuel shortages crippled economic activity in the capital, Bamako, and triggered widespread power outages.
