Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Intensifies Fuel Emergency

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Prolonged queues have been snaking around gas stations in the past few weeks

Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and learners had been impacted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered 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 normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the power distribution 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 GoĂŻta, who seized power in a coup in two years ago.

The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, committing to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.

Brian Lowery
Brian Lowery

Digital strategist and UX designer with over a decade of experience in tech innovation and web development projects across Europe.