The West African nation Suspends Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Emergency

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Extended lines have been forming around fuel pumps in the last few days

The landlocked West African country has closed schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity resulting from a embargo on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the travel of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that academic sessions could restart on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The military government had in recent days promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating safety issues.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration led by General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in recently.

The junta had popular support when it took power, committing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed private military contractors to address the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain outside government control.

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