🔗 Share this article The West African nation Closes Schools and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Petrol Shortage Lengthy queues have been appearing around gas stations in the past few weeks The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a severe energy crisis caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents. The Education Minister stated on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the transportation of staff and learners had been disrupted by the blockade. He stated that the administration were “working tirelessly” to resolve the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November. For several weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, especially in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by targeting tankers on primary roads. The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast. Lengthy waits have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet. The junta-led administration had earlier this month promised citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has persisted. Recently, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave Mali amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and growing protection worries. It said that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners. The West African nation is now led by a army council under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in two years ago. The junta had public backing when it assumed control, committing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by Islamist militants. The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity. The international troops have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the military government has hired foreign fighters to address the insecurity. Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.