The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Intensifies Fuel Crisis
The landlocked West African country has closed schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on fuel imports implemented by Islamist insurgents.
The Education Minister declared on state television that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, noting that the travel of employees and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.
He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by targeting tankers on major highways.
The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly grown silent.
The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
Recently, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing protection worries.
It noted that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.
The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.
These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired Russian mercenaries to tackle the instability.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain outside government control.
