🔗 Share this article The West African nation Suspends Schools and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Crisis Lengthy lines have been snaking around fuel pumps in the last few days Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents. The Education Minister announced on public media that all education institutions would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been affected by the restrictions. He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could restart on 10 November. For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by striking tankers on primary roads. The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are brought in by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation. Extended lines have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted. The ruling military council had earlier this month promised the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has persisted. Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing safety issues. It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways. Mali is presently governed by a armed forces administration led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently. The junta had popular support when it took power, promising to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by extremist groups. The international UN troops and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity. These forces have departed since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to tackle the violence. Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain outside government control.