The West African nation Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Fuel Shortage
Mali has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.
The Education Minister stated on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and students had been affected by the blockade.
He asserted that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.
For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.
Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The junta-led administration had previously assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.
It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.
Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021.
The junta had public backing when it came to authority, committing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in previously to combat the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to tackle the violence.
However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain not under administrative command.
