The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Emergency

Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a blockade on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

The Education Minister declared on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and students had been impacted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the administration were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a blockade by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are brought in by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been forming around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had previously reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has endured.

In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating protection worries.

It said that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in previously to combat the growing rebellion.

Both have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the military government has hired foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain not under administrative command.