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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a acute petrol shortage triggered by a restriction on petroleum supplies imposed by militant groups.

The Education Minister declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the movement of employees and pupils had been affected by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the emergency so that classes could resume on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.

The country is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The military government had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing protection worries.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.

The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the escalating insurgency.

Both have departed since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the violence.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.