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Mali has suspended educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by militant groups.

Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of employees and learners had been impacted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could restart on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a blockade by striking transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had in recent days assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing protection worries.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

Both have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.