Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Fuel Shortage
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by militant groups.
Minister of Education stated on state television that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the transportation of personnel and students had been impacted by the restrictions.
He asserted that the administration were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that classes could continue on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by attacking fuel trucks on primary roads.
The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The military government had previously reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and increasing safety issues.
It said that the energy interruptions had affected the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently.
The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to tackle the ongoing instability triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in previously to deal with the escalating insurgency.
The international troops have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to address the insecurity.
However, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.