The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Crisis

Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of personnel and learners had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The military government had previously promised citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a coup in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, committing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been sent in a decade ago to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to address the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.