🔗 Share this article The West African nation Closes Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Petrol Emergency Extended queues have been appearing around gas stations in the past few weeks The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents. Top education official declared on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of staff and students had been affected by the restrictions. He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to end the situation so that educational activities could resume on 10 November. For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by attacking tankers on key routes. The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast. Lengthy waits have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted. The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued. In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing protection worries. It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways. Mali is presently governed by a military junta led by General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in two years ago. The military government had public backing when it came to authority, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a independence uprising in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups. The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in a decade ago to deal with the increasing militant activity. These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed foreign fighters to combat the insecurity. Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.