Mali Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Petrol Crisis
Mali has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on fuel imports implemented by Islamist insurgents.
The Education Minister stated on public media that all learning centers would stay shut until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of staff and students had been impacted by the restrictions.
He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could resume on 10 November.
For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by striking transport vehicles on key routes.
Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been winding around petrol stations in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly grown silent.
The junta-led administration had previously assured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has endured.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing protection worries.
It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in recently.
The military government had popular support when it took power, committing to address the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in previously to address the increasing militant activity.
The international troops have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to address the insecurity.
Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.
