The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and colleges across the nation due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a embargo on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.
Minister of Education stated on public media that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The ruling military council had previously promised the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would depart Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing protection worries.
It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.
The military government had popular support when it came to authority, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency caused by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the escalating insurgency.
Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to address the insecurity.
Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain not under administrative command.
