The West African nation Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Crisis
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a restriction on energy resources implemented by jihadist fighters.
Minister of Education stated on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the movement of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.
He emphasized that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on key routes.
The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.
The ruling military council had in recent days promised the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has endured.
Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing protection worries.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a military junta headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in two years ago.
The junta had public backing when it came to authority, committing to address the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to address the violence.
However, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.
