Mali Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Petrol Crisis
Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a blockade on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.
Top education official announced on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the movement of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could restart on 10 November.
For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.
Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are brought in by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.
Lengthy waits have been snaking around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.
The military government had earlier this month promised the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted.
Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would depart Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.
It noted that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
Mali is presently governed by a armed forces administration led by General GoĂŻta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.
The junta had public backing when it took power, promising to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in previously to combat the growing rebellion.
The international troops have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to tackle the instability.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.
