🔗 Share this article The West African nation Suspends Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Emergency Extended queues have been forming around petrol stations in recent weeks The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges across the nation due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups. Top education official announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the movement of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations. He stated that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could resume on November 10th. For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by striking tankers on key routes. The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire. Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted. The military government had earlier this month assured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has endured. In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would depart Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating protection worries. It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners. Mali is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021. The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters. The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency. The international troops have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to address the insecurity. Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain outside government control.