Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Emergency
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on energy resources implemented by militant groups.
Minister of Education declared on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of personnel and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by attacking fuel trucks on key routes.
The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.
Long queues have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.
The military government had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.
Recently, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing protection worries.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a army council led by General GoĂŻta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.
The military government had popular support when it took power, vowing to address the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.
Both have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed private military contractors to tackle the instability.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain not under administrative command.
