Mali Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Crisis

Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on public media that all learning centers would stay shut until the ninth of November, explaining that the transportation of staff and students had been impacted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the crisis so that academic sessions could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the main city, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who took control in a coup in recently.

The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to address the growing rebellion.

The international troops have departed since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to tackle the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.