The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Emergency
Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute energy crisis resulting from a embargo on fuel imports enforced by militant groups.
Minister of Education announced on state television that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the movement of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.
Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently grown silent.
The military government had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.
Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing security concerns.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, committing to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.
Both have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.
However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.
