Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Fuel Shortage

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Lengthy lines have been snaking around petrol stations in recent weeks

The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Top education official announced on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of staff and students had been impacted by the blockade.

He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the emergency so that classes could resume on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the main city, after militants from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by attacking tankers on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been winding around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The military government had previously reassured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a coup in recently.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to address the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain outside government control.

Jacob Kennedy
Jacob Kennedy

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