Mali Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Shortage
Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and colleges throughout the country due to a acute energy crisis caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by militant groups.
The Education Minister declared on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until the ninth of November, explaining that the movement of staff and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.
He asserted that the authorities were “making every effort” to resolve the crisis so that classes could resume on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by striking tankers on key routes.
Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.
The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.
The military government had public backing when it assumed control, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.
Both have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.
However, the militant uprising has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain outside government control.