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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and universities countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the crisis so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days assured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing safety issues.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.

These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.