The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Intensifies Petrol Emergency

Long queues at petrol stations in Mali
Prolonged lines have been forming around fuel pumps in the last few days

The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage resulting from a restriction on energy resources enforced by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education announced on public media that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, noting that the travel of employees and learners had been affected by the restrictions.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by attacking tankers on major highways.

The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing protection worries.

It said that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, committing to address the ongoing instability caused by a independence uprising in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to deal with the escalating insurgency.

These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has hired foreign fighters to address the instability.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.

Joshua Reeves
Joshua Reeves

A cybersecurity expert and tech writer specializing in web performance optimization and digital infrastructure management.