The West African nation Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Fuel Shortage

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a restriction on fuel imports implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the movement of personnel and students had been affected by the blockade.

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by attacking tankers on key routes.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had in recent days assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of the military leader, who took control in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and France's military had been sent in a decade ago to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted private military contractors to tackle the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the country remain not under administrative command.