The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has issued rules for travelers in Mali, requiring women to wear headscarves and to be separated from men on public transport, according to a video seen by AFP on Monday.

In this Bambara-language video seen by AFP, Bina Diarra, one of the JNIM spokespersons, declares that passengers are now prohibited from mixing "whether on public intercity transport or in private vehicles" in Mali.

"Men and women do not mix and women must be covered," he added.

On Monday morning, an AFP correspondent observed that passenger separation was being respected at several bus stations in the capital Bamako: men sit in front, one row is left free, and women sit at the back.

The female passengers encountered by AFP were wearing headscarves. Hijab sellers also appeared in the stations visited by AFP.

"We don't require them to wear these outfits," a driver told AFP on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. But "they know that on the road, it's not in their best interest not to have them if we ever come across jihadists," he added.

Since 2012, Mali has been facing a serious security crisis fueled in particular by violence from JNIM and the Islamic State in the Sahel.

The junta, in power since two coups in 2020 and 2021, is struggling to stem jihadist attacks.

The mapping of the attacks shows that JNIM is seeking to isolate the capital Bamako by increasing operations on the surrounding roads.

Since September, JNIM has also been organizing a blockade in Mali on fuel imported from neighboring countries, the shortage of which is beginning to seriously disrupt this landlocked Sahelian country.

The group is targeting fuel tankers coming in particular from Senegal and Ivory Coast, through which the majority of goods imported into Mali transit.

According to JNIM, this was in retaliation for the Malian authorities' ban on the sale of fuel outside of service stations in rural areas, where fuel is transported in jerrycans for later sale. The measure was intended to dry up the jihadists' supply chain, according to Malian authorities.