Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Emergency

The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges across the nation due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a blockade on fuel imports implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on public media that all education institutions would stay shut until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of personnel and pupils had been affected by the blockade.

He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to end the situation so that educational activities could restart on 10 November.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by targeting tankers on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.

The ruling military council had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would depart the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing protection worries.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration under the leadership of the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, committing to address the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and France's military had been stationed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed foreign fighters to tackle the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.