Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Worsens Petrol Emergency
Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions throughout the country due to a acute energy crisis triggered by a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.
Minister of Education announced on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the transportation of employees and students had been affected by the imposed limitations.
He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could restart on the tenth of November.
For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by attacking fuel trucks on key routes.
The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are delivered by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently grown silent.
The military government had previously reassured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has endured.
In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would leave the country amid the worsening energy crisis and growing security concerns.
It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
Mali is presently governed by a army council led by General Goïta, who seized power in a coup in recently.
The military government had widespread approval when it took power, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis triggered by a independence uprising in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.
The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.
The international troops have departed since the new administration came in, and the current administration has hired private military contractors to tackle the insecurity.
Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.