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Thousands of residents in Mali’s capital, Bamako, have been left without electricity and running water after a suspected sabotage incident damaged a major power transmission line.
The disruption has worsened hardship for residents as insecurity and terrorist attacks continue to strain the country’s fragile infrastructure.
Bamako has experienced widespread power and water outages for two days after the transmission line supplying the city was damaged, according to utility officials.
State-owned electricity provider Energie du Mali (EDM) said an incident on its transmission network had severely affected electricity supply across several districts but did not identify the cause.
A senior official at Mali’s water utility, SOMAGEP, later told AFP that the disruption resulted from sabotage on the high-voltage line linking Bamako to the Manantali Dam on the Mali-Mauritania-Senegal border.
The official added that those responsible have not been identified.
Also, the blackout interrupted water distribution, forcing thousands of residents to depend on solar-powered boreholes and neighbourhood wells.
Long queues formed before dawn as families searched for water.
The disruption comes as the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has intensified attacks on routes leading into Bamako.
For months, the group has blocked major roads and set fire to buses, cargo trucks and fuel tankers in what authorities believe is an attempt to weaken the economy and disrupt supply chains.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the latest sabotage, the incident has highlighted the vulnerability of Mali’s critical infrastructure.
Since 2020, Mali has experienced a worsening security crisis, with violence involving terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, separatist movements, and armed criminal groups.
The latest outages have highlighted how years of conflict continue to affect essential public services, leaving residents to cope with repeated disruptions to electricity and water supplies, as well as to daily life.
