Russia’s Africa Corps Struggles to Break Mali’s Fuel Blockade as Jihadist Attacks Intensify

Russian forces deployed to Mali under the defence ministry’s newly named Africa Corps have so far been unable to lift a crippling fuel blockade or halt a wave of attacks attributed to jihadist groups, even as violence spreads across the wider Sahel.

After the 2021 coup in Bamako severed close ties with France, Mali’s junta turned to Moscow and the Wagner private military group. In June, Wagner was reorganized under the Russian defence ministry as the Africa Corps. Tasked with assisting Malian forces against armed Islamist groups, the corps initially provided air support but has increasingly been active on the ground to protect convoys and key sites.

Blockade and convoy attacks

Since September, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has imposed blockades on several towns and mounted repeated attacks on fuel convoys traveling from Senegal and the Ivory Coast — the primary routes for Mali’s imports. The Malian army and its partners have struggled to secure these roads, resulting in deaths among drivers and soldiers and severe fuel shortages in cities including the capital, Bamako.

Operational approach and limits

The Africa Corps has taken a more cautious posture than Wagner’s earlier footprint: it relies heavily on air support, drones and fortified positions and has participated in fewer major ground offensives. Analysts note the corps has been "largely absent from the south" of the country, concentrating instead on escort missions and select operations to secure supply lines.

Russian officials say the corps is operating at the Malian authorities’ request to restore fuel supplies, deploying both ground and air escorts. Independent sources, however, indicate that joint efforts by Malian forces and the Africa Corps have been costly and have not yet broken the blockade.

Allegations of abuses and propaganda

Human-rights organizations and monitoring groups allege that forces associated with the Wagner network committed serious abuses, including killings, torture and rape. Those accusations have been seized upon by jihadist groups, which present themselves as defenders of communities that they claim are targeted by foreign mercenaries.

“Incidents attributed to Wagner include massacres, acts of torture and rape,” said a Geneva-based monitoring group in a recent report.

Meanwhile, Moscow has dispatched media teams to Mali to produce favourable coverage of the Africa Corps, and Russian state outlets have broadcast statements portraying defence ministry personnel as defenders of national interests in the region.

Economic and strategic stakes

Russia’s engagement in Mali is part of a broader strategy to deepen political, economic and military influence across parts of Africa. Northern Mali contains mineral resources of strategic interest, particularly gold. The Malian junta has sought partnerships to exploit these resources; one Russian-linked firm has plans to build a gold refinery projected to process a substantial volume of gold per year, and joint operations have recaptured mining sites in the Gao region.

Human cost

Conflict-monitoring groups report a significant civilian toll in incidents involving Russian-linked forces and Malian troops. Monitoring data indicates hundreds of civilian deaths in recent reporting periods, underscoring the heavy human cost of the fighting and the fragility of security gains.

Outlook

The Africa Corps and Malian forces face multiple challenges: an adaptive insurgency that targets logistics, the difficulty of securing long supply routes, accusations of abuses that undermine local support, and competing strategic interests tied to natural resources. Until convoy routes can be reliably protected and trust restored among local communities, the fuel blockade and attendant humanitarian pressures are likely to persist.