Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Petrol Crisis

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Prolonged queues have been appearing around gas stations in the past few weeks

Mali has closed educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on energy resources implemented by militant groups.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the travel of employees and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the emergency so that educational activities could restart on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing safety issues.

It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in recently.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to address the ongoing instability triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the escalating insurgency.

Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed foreign fighters to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain not under administrative command.

Timothy Norton
Timothy Norton

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