The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Petrol Crisis

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the transportation of staff and learners had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by striking tankers on key routes.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted.

Recently, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and increasing security concerns.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a army council led by the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, committing to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to combat the violence.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain not under administrative command.