Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Fuel Crisis

The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.

For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had earlier this month reassured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would evacuate Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and growing safety issues.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to tackle the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.

Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.