Mali Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Emergency

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on fuel imports imposed by jihadist fighters.

Top education official declared on state television that all academic facilities would stay shut until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of staff and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.

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

For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the main city, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a embargo by striking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly grown silent.

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

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating protection worries.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, promising to tackle the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.