Mali Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Shortage

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and colleges across the nation due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on state television that all learning centers would stay shut until the ninth of November, clarifying that the transportation of employees and students had been impacted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the administration were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that classes could resume on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by striking tankers on major highways.

Mali is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around fuel outlets in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The military government had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing protection worries.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the violence.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain beyond state authority.