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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a blockade on energy resources enforced by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the movement of staff and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to end the situation so that academic sessions could restart on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a embargo by striking transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would depart the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a military junta under the leadership of the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in previously to combat the escalating insurgency.

These forces have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.

However, the Islamist rebellion has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain outside government control.