🔗 Share this article The West African nation Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Fuel Shortage Extended lines have been appearing around gas stations in the past few weeks Mali has suspended schools and colleges throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters. Top education official declared on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the transportation of personnel and students had been disrupted by the blockade. He emphasized that the administration were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that classes could continue on November 10th. For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an jihadist network enforced a restriction by targeting fuel trucks on major highways. Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast. Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly fallen quiet. The military government had in recent days promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has continued. Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing protection worries. It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways. The West African nation is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021. The junta had popular support when it assumed control, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by extremist groups. The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity. These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the military government has employed private military contractors to tackle the insecurity. However, the militant uprising has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain outside government control.