Mali Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Emergency

Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a restriction on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education stated on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, explaining that the travel of staff and pupils had been affected by the blockade.

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

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by attacking tankers on key routes.

The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been forming around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has continued.

In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and growing protection worries.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it assumed control, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in previously to combat the growing rebellion.

Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the violence.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.