🔗 Share this article Mali Closes Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Crisis Prolonged queues have been forming around gas stations in the last few days The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters. Minister of Education declared on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and learners had been affected by the restrictions. He emphasized that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could continue on 10 November. For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by striking fuel trucks on key routes. The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire. Extended lines have been forming around fuel outlets in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted. The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted. Recently, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns. It explained that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways. Mali is presently governed by a military junta under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a coup in two years ago. The military government had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups. The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in 2013 to deal with the growing rebellion. The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to combat the violence. Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.