The West African nation Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Shortage

Mali has suspended educational facilities and colleges throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would be inactive until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of staff and learners had been impacted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November.

For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a blockade by targeting tankers on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are delivered by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month promised the public that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a army council led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in two years ago.

The junta had public backing when it assumed control, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain not under administrative command.