Mali Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Shortage
Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.
Top education official announced on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until the ninth of November, noting that the transportation of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.
For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.
Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.
The junta-led administration had in recent days promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and growing safety issues.
It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been sent in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity.
Both have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.
