The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Crisis
Mali has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until the ninth of November, clarifying that the travel of staff and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.
For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.
The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.
The ruling military council had in recent days assured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has endured.
Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently.
The ruling council had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.
However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.