Drivers in the Malian capital are facing a diesel shortage because the national energy company is receiving priority supplies to cope with power outages, the oil companies' association said on Tuesday.

The landlocked Mali is dependent on imports via tanker trucks and has recently faced fuel shortages due to terrorist attacks on the truck convoys.

Since September, Al Qaeda-linked terrorists have sought to cripple Mali's economy through fuel blockade.

The terrorists have also attacked fuel tankers entering Mali and placing total blockades on certain strategic routes leading to the capital, Bamako.

Long queues

Fuel supplies had significantly increased since December, allowing the economy to recover.

But in recent days, several service stations in Bamako have run out of diesel.

On Tuesday long queues formed outside Bamako's few remaining supply points, an AFP journalist observed.

"Trucks transporting sand and gravel have run dry" and are no longer able to find diesel, the Sand Producers Association told AFP.

Public transport disrupted

According to local media, more than 100 vehicles used for public transport were out of service in Bamako on Monday due to lack of fuel.

"Diesel fuel is primarily intended for Energie du Mali (EDM)" which is under heavy strain due to a heatwave, a member of the oil companies' association told AFP.

In Bamako and surrounding areas, the electricity supply has been affected in recent days.

At the end of January, the terrorist group operating in Mali "summarily executed 10 long-haul truck drivers and two teenage apprentices" near the Senegalese border, according to a foreign human rights body.