Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Fuel Shortage
The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and colleges throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by militant groups.
The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of employees and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.
He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could restart on the tenth of November.
For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.
Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are delivered by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Lengthy waits have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.
The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has persisted.
In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing safety issues.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in two years ago.
The military government had popular support when it assumed control, promising to tackle the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to address the instability.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain not under administrative command.