Malians flee to Mauritania amid fuel blockade

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00:00in Mali, where the situation has sharply escalated.

00:03An ongoing blockade by the al-Qaeda-linked group Janim

00:07has brought much of the country's economy to a standstill.

00:10This as fighting between non-state armed groups,

00:13the Malian army and their Russian-backed allies intensifies.

00:17Communities have been cut off from supplies,

00:19and in some towns, fighters are ordering entire villages

00:22to leave or be treated as the enemy,

00:24meaning hundreds of families continue to arrive

00:26at the Mauritania-Mali border.

00:28Our regional correspondent, Caitlin Kelly,

00:32reports from a makeshift camp between the countries.

00:35Let's take a listen.

00:37Just a few kilometres from here lies extremist-held territory,

00:41where fighting between the Malian army,

00:43its Russian allies and armed groups has intensified in recent weeks.

00:48And now here on the Malian border with Mauritania,

00:51hundreds of refugees are fleeing the violence.

00:53In late September, the al-Qaeda-linked group Janim

00:56announced it was cutting off fuel supplies to Mali,

00:58setting up checkpoints on main roads to stop fuel from reaching the cities

01:01and effectively crippling the country's economy.

01:05Around 20 kilometres from this point on the border,

01:08in villages like Leray,

01:09family described living under blockade,

01:11with food and supplies cut off by the group.

01:15Refugees I've spoken to say Janim ordered entire villages to leave,

01:19giving residents just a couple of days to leave

01:21or face life under their rule, or even death.

01:25Others told me they fled attacks from the Malian army

01:27and its Russian allies, Africa Corps,

01:30reporting drone strikes and ground attacks less than 30 kilometres from here.

01:35Some described their whole village as burnt

01:37and family members killed before their eyes.

01:39On one side of us were the jihadists,

01:43and on the other, Wagner.

01:44In the past we could hide, but now it's not possible.

01:47The girl sat next to me.

01:48Her father was taken and we've had no news since.

01:52We hate Wagner for coming into our country,

01:54for slaughtering us on our own land

01:56without having done anything to deserve it.

02:00In the past two weeks alone,

02:01more than 1,600 people have arrived here

02:03at this border point in Mauritania

02:05as the situation next door worsens,

02:07joining over 300,000 refugees

02:09already displaced into this region.

02:11We are all scared our souls are not at peace

02:13because we are dying every day.

02:15We saw we were in danger of dying,

02:16so we decided to leave.

02:20We left everything we owned behind

02:22and we can't go back to recover any of it.

02:24Many believe this is Mali's most critical moment

02:28since 2012 as fighting across the country

02:30between the army, its Russian allies

02:32and insurgents has already displaced millions.

02:35As one refugee described it to me,

02:38Mali has become a no-go zone.

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