The West African nation Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Crisis
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official announced on state television that all learning centers would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the movement of staff and students had been affected by the restrictions.
He stated that the administration were “doing everything possible” to resolve the emergency so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November.
For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by attacking tankers on key routes.
Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.
The junta-led administration had in recent days promised the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
Recently, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.
Mali is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.
The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The international UN troops and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the growing rebellion.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to combat the violence.
Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain not under administrative command.
