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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a severe petrol shortage resulting from a restriction on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education stated on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the transportation of staff and learners had been affected by the blockade.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The military government had previously assured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and growing safety issues.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in 2021.

The junta had public backing when it came to authority, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been deployed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

Both have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain outside government control.