Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Petrol Shortage
Mali has closed schools and universities countrywide due to a acute energy crisis caused by a blockade on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education announced on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the movement of staff and learners had been affected by the restrictions.
He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to end the emergency so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on key routes.
The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are delivered by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The military government had previously reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing protection worries.
It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.
The military government had public backing when it took power, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.
The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to address the violence.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.
