The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Petrol Crisis
The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by jihadist fighters.
The Education Minister announced on state television that all education institutions would be inactive until 9 November, clarifying that the movement of employees and students had been impacted by the blockade.
He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.
For several weeks, the nation has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a blockade by attacking fuel trucks on key routes.
The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The ruling military council had previously promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued.
Recently, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.
It said that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.
Mali is currently ruled by a armed forces administration led by General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in recently.
The junta had public backing when it took power, committing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in previously to combat the growing rebellion.
The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to combat the instability.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.
