Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a critical energy crisis caused by a restriction on fuel imports enforced by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official stated on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of staff and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that classes could restart on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a restriction by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.
The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, 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 temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.
Recently, the US Embassy in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would depart Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and growing security concerns.
It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who seized power in a takeover in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, promising to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the increasing militant activity.
These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to tackle the instability.
However, the jihadist insurgency has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain outside government control.
