Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Fuel Shortage
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and colleges throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.
Top education official declared on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, explaining that the travel of employees and learners had been affected by the blockade.
He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could restart on the tenth of November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by striking tankers on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The ruling military council had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.
Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would depart the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing security concerns.
It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by the military leader, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.
The junta had public backing when it came to authority, promising to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in previously to combat the growing rebellion.
Both have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the military government has employed private military contractors to combat the insecurity.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.