The West African nation Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Emergency

Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on fuel imports enforced by militant groups.

The Education Minister stated on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until November 9th, explaining that the travel of employees and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had previously assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has continued.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in two years ago.

The junta had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to address the ongoing instability triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted private military contractors to tackle the instability.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.