Mali Closes Schools and Universities as Jihadist Blockade Worsens Petrol Emergency
Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a embargo on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education declared on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the blockade.
He asserted that the government officials were “making every effort” to end the crisis so that classes could resume on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a embargo by attacking tankers on major highways.
The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are brought in by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.
The junta-led administration had earlier this month promised the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and escalating safety issues.
It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.
Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in two years ago.
The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been stationed in previously to combat the escalating insurgency.
These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the violence.
However, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.
