🔗 Share this article Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Shortage Lengthy queues have been forming around fuel pumps in the last few days Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters. Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, noting that the travel of personnel and learners had been affected by the blockade. He asserted that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could continue on the tenth of November. For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by striking tankers on primary roads. Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation. Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted. The junta-led administration had previously reassured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has endured. Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would leave Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and increasing safety issues. It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms. The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration led by General Goïta, who took control in a coup in 2021. The ruling council had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants. The international UN troops and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the escalating insurgency. Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has hired Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity. However, the militant uprising has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain not under administrative command.