Al Qaeda-linked group killed at least 12 truck drivers in Mali, HRW says

DAKAR, March 10 (Reuters) – Islamist militants from an al Qaeda-linked group killed 10 long-haul truck drivers and two teenage apprentices who were travelling through Mali’s western Kayes region in late January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

* Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) attacked amilitary-escorted fuel convoy of at least 40 trucks, the HRWreport said. * JNIM, which mainly operates in Mali and Burkina Faso, hasemerged as the region’s strongest militant group. It aims toimpose Islamic rule across the Sahel and extend its influence tocoastal West Africa. * Malian military authorities have turned to armed escortsto ease a fuel supply blockade on the landlocked country imposedby the insurgents. * Witnesses told HRW the convoy, which was supposed tosupply fuel to the Kayes region, had left Senegal’s capitalDakar on January 27 and crossed Mali’s border the next day. * JNIM fighters captured several drivers who abandoned theirtrucks when the attackers opened fire, later executing 12 whilereleasing others, the HRW said. * Six drivers have been missing since the attack, the reportsaid. * Mali’s truck drivers union told Reuters last month that 15drivers were captured and executed on the spot during theattack. * Mali’s authorities did not immediately respond to aReuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Mali newsroom; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)