Mali Suspends Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Shortage
The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and colleges throughout the country due to a severe energy crisis caused by a restriction on fuel imports imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education declared on state television that all education institutions would be inactive until 9 November, clarifying that the movement of staff and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.
He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to end the emergency so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.
For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a blockade by targeting tankers on primary roads.
Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.
The ruling military council had previously promised citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and growing protection worries.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it took power, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in previously to address the increasing militant activity.
These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.
