Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Fuel Emergency
Mali has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a critical energy crisis caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.
Top education official stated on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.
For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by striking transport vehicles on primary roads.
The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by road from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The military government had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued.
In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.
It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration led by General Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.
The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.
The international UN troops and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.
These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to address the insecurity.
However, the militant uprising has persisted and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain not under administrative command.