Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Shortage

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in recent weeks

The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges across the nation due to a acute energy crisis resulting from a restriction on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the travel of staff and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.

He asserted that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.

The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart Mali amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and increasing protection worries.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta led by General GoĂŻta, who took control in a takeover in two years ago.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, committing to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the junta took over, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain outside government control.

Robin Melendez
Robin Melendez

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