Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Emergency
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters.
The Education Minister announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, explaining that the travel of personnel and learners had been impacted by the blockade.
He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that classes could resume on 10 November.
For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, especially in the main city, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.
Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as Senegal and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.
Long queues have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The military government had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating protection worries.
It said that the fuel disruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.
Mali is currently ruled by a army council headed by Gen Assimi GoĂŻta, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.
The military government had widespread approval when it took power, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in previously to deal with the growing rebellion.
The international troops have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.
Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain not under administrative command.
