The West African nation Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Fuel Crisis
Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage resulting from a embargo on energy resources imposed by militant groups.
Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of employees and learners had been affected by the blockade.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to end the situation so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.
For several weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by targeting tankers on primary roads.
Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The ruling military council had in recent days assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.
In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would depart the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing security concerns.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is now led by a army council under the leadership of General GoĂŻta, who seized power in a takeover in two years ago.
The military government had popular support when it came to authority, promising to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by extremist groups.
The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to combat the insecurity.
However, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain not under administrative command.