Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Crisis
Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a restriction on energy resources enforced by jihadist fighters.
Minister of Education declared on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until the ninth of November, explaining that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.
He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November.
For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by targeting tankers on primary roads.
The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Lengthy waits have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The ruling military council had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has continued.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is now led by a military junta under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.
The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to combat the instability.
Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.