The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Crisis

Mali has suspended educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis caused by a blockade on energy resources implemented by jihadist fighters.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the movement of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.

He asserted that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the emergency so that classes could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The military government had previously promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is now led by a army council led by the military leader, who seized power in a coup in two years ago.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, promising to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have departed since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.