Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Fuel Emergency
Mali has closed educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a critical fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on energy resources enforced by militant groups.
Top education official announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the transportation of employees and learners had been impacted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.
For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.
Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been forming around gas pumps in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The military government had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and escalating security concerns.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in 2021.
The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been stationed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.
These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the violence.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.
