Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Restrictions Exacerbates Fuel Crisis
Mali has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies imposed by jihadist fighters.
Top education official declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the transportation of employees and students had been impacted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the situation so that classes could continue on the tenth of November.
For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a blockade by attacking fuel trucks on primary roads.
Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.
Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently fallen quiet.
The military government had earlier this month reassured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.
Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and escalating protection worries.
It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.
Mali is now led by a army council led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in two years ago.
The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.
The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.
These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.
Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain beyond state authority.
