Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Shortage

Mali has suspended schools and colleges throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.

The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of personnel and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The military government had previously assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating protection worries.

It said that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The junta had popular support when it came to authority, promising to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in previously to combat the escalating insurgency.

These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired private military contractors to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.