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Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the travel of personnel and students had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by striking transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had in recent days assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would depart the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating protection worries.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is presently governed by a army council led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had public backing when it assumed control, committing to address the ongoing instability prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in previously to address the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.