🔗 Share this article The West African nation Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Fuel Crisis Prolonged lines have been appearing around petrol stations in recent weeks Mali has closed schools and universities across the nation due to a critical fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on fuel imports enforced by Islamist insurgents. The Education Minister declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, explaining that the travel of staff 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 resume on the tenth of November. For weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by targeting tankers on major highways. Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire. Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent. The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted. Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns. It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways. Mali is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently. The military government had popular support when it took power, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by extremist groups. The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in previously to deal with the escalating insurgency. These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to address the instability. However, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain not under administrative command.