Insurgents shift tactics as Mali junta struggles for control

goita

Mali transitional-government leader Colonel Assimi Goita speaking to the press. PHOTO | AFP

Mali’s military has finally acknowledged a new tactic employed by jihadist fighters in the country’s decade-long unrest.

On September 10, soldiers were deployed for the first time to escort fuel tankers, trucks, and buses from the border with Senegal to Bamako. The route had traditionally been considered safe and had never required protection.