The West African nation Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Universities as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Fuel Emergency
The landlocked West African country has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on energy resources enforced by militant groups.
Top education official stated on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the travel of staff and students had been affected by the blockade.
He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.
For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a restriction by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.
Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.
The junta-led administration had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing security concerns.
It explained that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.
The West African nation is presently governed by a army council led by Gen Assimi GoĂŻta, who seized power in a takeover in recently.
The military government had popular support when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the growing rebellion.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to address the instability.
Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.
