Mali Suspends Schools and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Shortage
Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis caused by a embargo on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.
Minister of Education stated on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the transportation of employees and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.
He emphasized that the authorities were “making every effort” to end the emergency so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, especially in the main city, after insurgents from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by striking tankers on primary roads.
Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently become deserted.
The ruling military council had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.
Last week, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing safety issues.
It noted that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who took control in a takeover in recently.
The junta had public backing when it came to authority, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in previously to address the growing rebellion.
The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the military government has contracted private military contractors to combat the instability.
However, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.