The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Fuel Shortage
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and universities across the nation due to a acute petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would be inactive until the ninth of November, noting that the travel of staff and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that classes could continue on 10 November.
For weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by striking fuel trucks on major highways.
Mali is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.
The military government had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing protection worries.
It said that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.
Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.
Both have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the instability.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain not under administrative command.
