Mali Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Petrol Emergency
Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a embargo on fuel imports imposed by jihadist fighters.
Top education official stated on state television that all learning centers would stay shut until 9 November, clarifying that the transportation of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could resume on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by attacking tankers on key routes.
The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.
The ruling military council had in recent days assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening energy crisis and growing security concerns.
It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in two years ago.
The junta had popular support when it assumed control, committing to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to combat the growing rebellion.
Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the violence.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain not under administrative command.