The West African nation Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Shortage
The landlocked West African country has closed schools and universities across the nation due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official announced on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the travel of employees and learners had been affected by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by striking transport vehicles on primary roads.
Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.
The junta-led administration had previously assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has endured.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a army council headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The international UN troops and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.
These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.
Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.
