Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Crisis

The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities across the nation due to a critical fuel scarcity resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

Top education official announced on state television that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the travel of staff and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could resume on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a restriction by striking transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are transported by land routes from bordering countries such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The junta-led administration had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has continued.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is presently governed by a army council led by the military leader, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.

Both have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to address the insecurity.

However, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain not under administrative command.