The West African nation Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Shortage

Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of personnel and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are brought in by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has endured.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating safety issues.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to address the instability.

However, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain not under administrative command.