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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities throughout the country due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister stated on public media that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the travel of staff and students had been disrupted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the emergency so that classes could resume on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by attacking tankers on primary roads.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had previously assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would depart the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a army council led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, vowing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in 2013 to deal with the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.

However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.