Verified footage shows al-Qaeda affiliate destroying fuel convoy in Malipublished at 13:37 BST 18 September
Sebastian Vandermeersch and Peter Mwai
BBC Verify
A grab from the verified video shows a fighter watching as lorry burns
An al-Qaeda linked group in Mali has attacked and destroyed many vehicles in a large convoy of about 80 fuel tankers being escorted by the Malian military, according to footage circulating online.
The lorries were travelling from the capital Bamako towards Senegal on 14 September when they were hit by fighters from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a militant group which operates in the region.
Videos of the attack show JNIM fighters approaching several ablaze trucks, which are throwing up enormous plumes of smoke. Extensive gunfire can be heard in the background.
Aftermath footage, seemingly filmed by civilians using the road, shows dozens of burnt out trucks lined up on the dirt road. Nasa’s Firms fire-detection data allowed us to geolocate the footage by cross-checking the co-ordinates with Google Earth satellite imagery to identify a telecommunications mast visible in one of the videos.
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs captured on Tuesday also shows burn scars, smoke plumes, and rows of destroyed lorries – consistent with the footage. It also showed a long line of of stuck vehicles seen stretching back for about 3km (1.8 miles) towards Senegal.
The attack is part of a new JNIM campaign to blockade Kayes, one of Mali’s most strategically important regions connecting Mali to Senegal and Mauritania.Along these roads, JNIM has restricted the flow of goods by extorting traders, abducting foreign drivers and attacking convoys – including torching fuel tankers, lorries and buses.
A video posted online today appears to show JNIM fighters back at the site riding motorcycles past a large number of burnt fuel tankers while some traffic can be seen moving again along the road.