Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Petrol Emergency
Mali has closed schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.
The Education Minister announced on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to end the crisis so that classes could resume on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by targeting tankers on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.
It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a coup in recently.
The junta had popular support when it assumed control, promising to address the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The international UN troops and France's military had been sent in a decade ago to deal with the increasing militant activity.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired private military contractors to tackle the insecurity.
However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.
