Mali Suspends Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Fuel Emergency

The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on fuel imports imposed by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official stated on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the transportation of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by targeting tankers on key routes.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had earlier this month assured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has continued.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would depart the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and growing safety issues.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council led by the military leader, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been sent in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to address the violence.

However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.