Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Emergency
Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a embargo on energy resources implemented by jihadist fighters.
The Education Minister declared on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of employees and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the emergency so that classes could restart on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a blockade by targeting transport vehicles on key routes.
The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The military government had previously reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and increasing safety issues.
It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.
Mali is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in recently.
The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to address the protracted safety emergency caused by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.
The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to tackle the instability.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has endured and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain not under administrative command.