Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Crisis

The landlocked West African country has closed schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a restriction on petroleum supplies implemented by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister declared on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of staff and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to resolve the emergency so that classes could resume on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by striking tankers on primary roads.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently grown silent.

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

Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and French forces had been sent in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.

However, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.