Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Petrol Crisis

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Prolonged lines have been snaking around fuel pumps in the past few weeks

The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the transportation of employees and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by targeting tankers on primary roads.

Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The junta-led administration had previously reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart the country amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta headed by the military leader, who took control in a takeover in two years ago.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a independence uprising in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been deployed in previously to deal with the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain outside government control.

Brian Garrett
Brian Garrett

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