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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and colleges across the nation due to a critical fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the travel of personnel and students had been disrupted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by striking transport vehicles on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around gas pumps in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a military junta under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it took power, promising to address the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and France's military had been stationed in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to combat the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain not under administrative command.