Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Emergency
Mali has suspended schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.
Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the transportation of staff and pupils had been affected by the blockade.
He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that classes could restart on November 10th.
For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The military government had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing security concerns.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to combat the increasing militant activity.
Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to address the instability.
However, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.
