🔗 Share this article

Mali has suspended schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the travel of staff and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a embargo by attacking tankers on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the military government has employed private military contractors to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.