🔗 Share this article Mali Closes Schools and Universities as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Shortage Extended lines have been snaking around fuel pumps in the past few weeks Mali has closed schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a restriction on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents. Minister of Education declared on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations. He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November. For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by striking transport vehicles on key routes. Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast. Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent. The military government had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has continued. Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns. It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners. The West African nation is currently ruled by a armed forces administration under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently. The junta had public backing when it took power, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups. The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in previously to address the escalating insurgency. Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the violence. However, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain beyond state authority.