🔗 Share this article

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the movement of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.

He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by striking tankers on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from bordering countries such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The ruling military council had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and growing safety issues.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of the military leader, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in 2021.

The ruling council had public backing when it took power, promising to tackle the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in previously to deal with the growing rebellion.

The international troops have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to combat the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has endured and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.