🔗 Share this article Mali Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Shortage Prolonged queues have been forming around petrol stations in recent weeks Mali has closed educational facilities and universities across the nation due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters. Minister of Education stated on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, noting that the movement of staff and learners had been affected by the blockade. He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November. For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by targeting tankers on primary roads. Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast. Long queues have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly grown silent. The ruling military council had previously assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted. Last week, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would depart the country amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating security concerns. It explained that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways. The West African nation is now led by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently. The military government had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the protracted safety emergency caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants. The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in previously to combat the escalating insurgency. These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to tackle the instability. Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.