The West African nation Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Shortage

Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a embargo on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, explaining that the travel of personnel and students had been affected by the blockade.

He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on key routes.

Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.

Recently, the US Embassy in the capital announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing security concerns.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a army council headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, committing to address the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

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

These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain outside government control.