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Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education announced on state television that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of personnel and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an jihadist network enforced a blockade by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been snaking around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously assured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, committing to address the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and French forces had been sent in a decade ago to deal with the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have departed since the junta took over, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain beyond state authority.