The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Petrol Emergency
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of staff and pupils had been affected by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that classes could continue on November 10th.
For weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.
The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been snaking around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently grown silent.
The military government had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a armed forces administration led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.
The ruling council had popular support when it took power, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to combat the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to combat the violence.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.
