The West African nation Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Intensifies Fuel Crisis
Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges throughout the country due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.
Top education official announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until November 9th, noting that the transportation of personnel and learners had been affected by the restrictions.
He asserted that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that educational activities could continue on the tenth of November.
For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a restriction by attacking tankers on primary roads.
The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.
The ruling military council had in recent days assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.
In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing protection worries.
It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
Mali is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.
The junta had widespread approval when it took power, vowing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.
These forces have left since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has hired foreign fighters to combat the instability.
Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain not under administrative command.
