Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Shortage

The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities across the nation due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on fuel imports enforced by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister declared on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the travel of staff and students had been impacted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by attacking tankers on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently.

The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been sent in a decade ago to combat the escalating insurgency.

These forces have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain not under administrative command.