At least 15 drivers were killed in the attack on a tanker convoy in Mali

At least 15 drivers were killed on Thursday in an attack attributed to Jihadistsand targeted a Fuel tanks in western Mali, local and security sources told Agence France-Presse on Monday.

Since September, jihadists belonging to the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims have imposed a siege on several Malian cities and launched attacks on convoys.

Attack site

The attack occurred at an axis linking the Senegalese border with the Malian city of Kayes in the west of the country.

A security source said He did not want to reveal his identity to AFP "Fighters belonging to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims intercepted them before executing them at a very close range after blindfolding them."

A local radio worker told Agence France-Presse, citing the testimony of a local official "We counted the bodies of 15 drivers left on the scene next to the burning tankers"

Previous attacks

This is the first time jihadists responded Truck drivers directly, knowing that drivers were killed in previous attacks.

Last November, the jihadist group announced in a video clip that all tanker truck drivers would be considered "Military targets"

Army ambush

In a statement seen by Agence France-Presse, the group announced that it set up an ambush on Thursday for the Malian army between Dibouli on the border with Senegal and Kayes, without mentioning the attack on the tankers.

During a meeting on Sunday with the Malian authorities, truck drivers demanded that the army take over the removal of the bodies that were still at the site of the attack.

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