Mali Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Shortage
Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official stated on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.
He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to end the emergency so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.
For weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a blockade by striking tankers on key routes.
Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.
The junta-led administration had previously assured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has continued.
Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and growing safety issues.
It said that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The junta had popular support when it assumed control, promising to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the increasing militant activity.
Both have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to combat the instability.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.
