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2023-09-22 Africa North
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Timbuktu suffocates under jihadist blockade
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[AFRICANEWS] When jihadists in Mali announced they would blockade the ancient city of Timbuktu, residents thought it was just another intimidation tactic.
But a month and a half later, the tens of thousands of inhabitants remain almost completely cut off from the world with the agonising scenario having become a reality.
Half a dozen witnesses have described to AFP a life of scarcity and fear, as shells have begun to rain down and people increasingly feel in danger in a city where basic necessities are starting to run short.
The al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance Support Group for Islam and Moslems (GSIM) announced in a series of messages at the beginning of August that it was declaring "war in the Timbuktu region".
"We thought it was just voice messages to spread fear," said Abdoul Aziz Mohammed Yehiya, a civil society organiser.
"Today, frankly, what we are experiencing is exactly the blockade" they had promised, he said.
Local GSIM commander Talha Abou Hind has warned that any lorries that try to run the blockade and enter the region would be "targeted and set on fire".
A Timbuktu resident who asked to remain anonymous told AFP he had recently returned to the city by road, travelling from the direction of Goundam, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the southwest.
Along the way, he said, "I met nothing but heavily armed jihadists with 12.7 mm machine guns on cycle of violence s".
"I was practically the only motorbike... there was no activity", he added.
One alternative to the increasingly dangerous road had been the Niger River, which flows a few kilometres south of Timbuktu, offering a transport link between northern towns.
But this option disappeared on September 7 when an attackon a ferry, attributed to jihadists, killed dozens of civilians.
All river boat journeys have now been cancelled until further notice, the company operating them told AFP.
Sky Mali, the only airline serving Timbuktu, has temporarily cancelled its service to the northern city following a shell attack near the airport.
Jihadists have been extending their hold over rural areas around the better-defended towns in northern Mali, likely with the aim of increasing pressure on the central government rather than taking over the towns.
Mali's ruling junta, which seized power in 2020, faces a multitude of security challenges throughout the country. It has been playing down the situation in Timbuktu.
Having refused to call it a blockade, the junta on September 5 finally acknowledged there was a "restriction on the flow of goods" to the city, as well as "soaring prices of basic necessities".
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Posted by Fred 2023-09-22 00:00||
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File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
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