Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Emergency
Mali has closed schools and colleges throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters.
Top education official announced on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the movement of staff and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.
He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a embargo by striking tankers on key routes.
Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly grown silent.
The ruling military council had previously reassured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.
Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would depart Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing safety issues.
It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in 2021.
The ruling council had widespread approval when it came to authority, vowing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been stationed in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity.
Both have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.
However, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.