🔗 Share this article The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Shortage Prolonged lines have been forming around petrol stations in the last few days The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a critical energy crisis caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters. Minister of Education stated on public media that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of personnel and students had been impacted by the restrictions. He stated that the administration were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could continue on November 10th. For several weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on key routes. The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast. Long queues have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted. The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured. Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and escalating safety issues. It explained that the fuel disruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways. The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently. The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants. The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion. Both have departed since the junta took over, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the insecurity. Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.