Mali Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Intensifies Fuel Crisis
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters.
The Education Minister stated on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of employees and students had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on the tenth of November.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Extended lines have been snaking around gas pumps in the capital in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The military government had in recent days assured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has continued.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration headed by General GoĂŻta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.
The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.
The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in previously to deal with the increasing militant activity.
The international troops have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.
However, the militant uprising has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain outside government control.
