The West African nation Suspends Schools and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Fuel Emergency

The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage resulting from a restriction on energy resources implemented by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the movement of personnel and learners had been impacted by the restrictions.

He stated that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that classes could resume on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by targeting tankers on primary roads.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and growing safety issues.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a coup in 2021.

The junta had popular support when it came to authority, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.