🔗 Share this article Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Emergency Lengthy queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the last few days Mali has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents. Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the movement of personnel and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations. He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the emergency so that academic sessions could restart on the tenth of November. For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by targeting fuel trucks on key routes. The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation. Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted. The military government had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has continued. Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating safety issues. It said that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners. Mali is now led by a military junta under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a coup in two years ago. The ruling council had widespread approval when it took power, vowing to address the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters. The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to address the growing rebellion. Both have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has contracted private military contractors to address the insecurity. However, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain not under administrative command.