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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and colleges across the nation due to a critical fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on public media that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of personnel and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by targeting transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Long queues have been forming around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has persisted.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would evacuate the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing safety issues.

It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is now led by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it came to authority, promising to address the long-running security crisis caused by a autonomy movement in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been stationed in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have departed since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has hired foreign fighters to address the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain not under administrative command.