Mali has banned the use of certain motorcycles outside of major cities as the country battles a jihadist insurgency, according to a government order broadcast on Wednesday.

Motorcycles are the preferred means of transport for jihadist groups in Mali, which has been plunged into a security crisis as jihadists blockade its capital Bamako.

An order read out on national television on Wednesday evening said the “circulation of motorcycles with an engine capacity of 125 cc and above, outside major urban centres, is suspended throughout the entire national territory”.

The order made exceptions for Bamako, regional capitals and some urban locales.

Authorities also announced a nationwide suspension of the “import, transit, marketing, sale and free distribution” of motorcycles with engines of 125 cc or above, as well as their accessories.

Mali is mired by a deepening security crisis following large-scale, coordinated attacks on the ruling military junta conducted on April 25 and 26 by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists.

The jihadists have blocked several key routes leading into Bamako since April 30, torching dozens of buses and freight trucks.

Armed groups have captured several areas in the country’s north, including the strategic town of Kidal in a blow to the ruling junta that seized power in 2020.

AFP