🔗 Share this article Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Fuel Crisis Lengthy lines have been forming around gas stations in the past few weeks Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a acute energy crisis resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters. Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until the ninth of November, noting that the transportation of employees and students had been impacted by the restrictions. He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on 10 November. For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads. Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation. Extended lines have been snaking around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly grown silent. The junta-led administration had in recent days promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has continued. Last week, the US Embassy in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating security concerns. It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms. Mali is presently governed by a military junta led by the military leader, who seized power in a coup in 2021. The military government had public backing when it took power, committing to tackle the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by extremist groups. The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to deal with the growing rebellion. These forces have departed since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted private military contractors to tackle the insecurity. Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.