Mali Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Crisis
Mali has suspended schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by militant groups.
The Education Minister announced on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He stated that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the emergency so that classes could resume on 10 November.
For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.
The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The junta-led administration had previously promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would depart Mali amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.
It said that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is now led by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.
The ruling council had public backing when it took power, vowing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.
These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to address the insecurity.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.
