🔗 Share this article The West African nation Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Worsens Fuel Emergency Prolonged lines have been snaking around petrol stations in recent weeks Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a critical fuel scarcity triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters. The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of staff and students had been affected by the imposed limitations. He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November. For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by attacking transport vehicles on major highways. The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation. Lengthy waits have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted. The military government had in recent days promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured. In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating security concerns. It explained that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways. The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021. The military government had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by Islamist militants. The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been sent in previously to deal with the growing rebellion. These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the insecurity. Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.