The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Petrol Crisis
The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the transportation of staff and pupils had been affected by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the situation so that educational activities could continue on the tenth of November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a blockade by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.
The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been snaking around fuel outlets in the capital in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly become deserted.
The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It said that the energy interruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, promising to address the ongoing instability caused by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by extremist groups.
The international UN troops and France's military had been sent in a decade ago to deal with the growing rebellion.
The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted private military contractors to address the violence.
Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain not under administrative command.
