🔗 Share this article The West African nation Shuts Down Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Petrol Emergency Extended queues have been appearing around petrol stations in the past few weeks The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a critical fuel scarcity resulting from a blockade on energy resources imposed by militant groups. Top education official announced on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until 9 November, noting that the travel of personnel and students had been impacted by the restrictions. He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the situation so that classes could continue on November 10th. For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the main city, after militants from an jihadist network enforced a restriction by striking fuel trucks on primary roads. The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are brought in by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and the neighboring nation. Lengthy waits have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently fallen quiet. The ruling military council had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has endured. Recently, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing protection worries. It noted that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners. Mali is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently. The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters. The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion. Both have departed since the junta took over, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to address the violence. However, the militant uprising has continued and large parts of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.