The West African nation Suspends Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Fuel Emergency
The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a critical fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education stated on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the transportation of staff and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could restart on 10 November.
For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.
Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are delivered by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Long queues have been snaking around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The junta-led administration had in recent days assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart Mali amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.
It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is now led by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The military government had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in previously to combat the growing rebellion.
The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.
However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain outside government control.