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Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity resulting from a blockade on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.

The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the transportation of employees and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had previously assured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has endured.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It said that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a army council headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to deal with the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to address the growing rebellion.

These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the military government has hired private military contractors to combat the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.