The West African nation Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Fuel Emergency
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on energy resources enforced by jihadist fighters.
The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, explaining that the transportation of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.
He asserted that the administration were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a blockade by striking transport vehicles on key routes.
The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The ruling military council had in recent days promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.
Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing security concerns.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.
The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.
The international troops have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired Russian mercenaries to address the instability.
However, the jihadist insurgency has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.