Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Intensifies Fuel Emergency

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity resulting from a blockade on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.

The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of employees and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by attacking tankers on primary roads.

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

Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has persisted.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing safety issues.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a coup in recently.

The junta had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

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

The international troops have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.