Mali Bans Heavy Motorcycles Outside Major Cities to Combat Armed Groups

2026/06/04 22:36 Compiled by Chang Pei-yuan / Comprehensive Report

May 9, 2026, a soldier from the separatist armed organization FLA, riding on the back of a motorcycle, raises his hands in the northern Malian stronghold of Kidal, displaying the FLA flag. (AFP)

To reduce attacks by armed groups, the West African nation of Mali's military government has banned the sale and use of heavy motorcycles outside major urban areas and established military zones inaccessible to civilians.

This motorcycle ban, announced on the evening of the 3rd via state television, targets heavy motorcycles with an engine displacement of 125CC and above.

Motorcycles are the primary mode of transportation in rural Mali, favored by both rural residents and armed groups. Militants frequently use motorcycles to shuttle back and forth in the West African Sahel region to launch attacks and make quick retreats, often attacking convoys delivering goods to Mali's capital, Bamako, and setting vehicles on fire.

In addition to the motorcycle ban, Mali's military government has also established "military interest zones" in 35 forest-dominated locations in the central, southern, and western parts of the country, prohibiting civilian entry. According to the decree released on the evening of the 3rd, these areas are at risk of becoming havens for armed terrorist organizations, and the Malian Armed Forces Staff will systematically strike them.

Mali has been ruled by the military since the 2020 coup. In April of this year, the armed jihadist organization Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), linked to the mastermind of the US 9/11 terrorist attacks, al-Qaida, and the separatist organization Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), jointly launched the most severe attacks in over a decade across Mali. The capital Bamako was besieged, Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed, and the northern stronghold of Kidal fell into rebel hands.

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