Mali Suspends Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Restrictions Exacerbates Petrol Emergency
Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity triggered by a restriction on energy resources implemented by militant groups.
Top education official declared on national broadcast that all learning centers would be inactive until November 9th, explaining that the travel of personnel and learners had been affected by the imposed limitations.
He asserted that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could resume on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.
The country is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are delivered by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and CĂ´te d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly become deserted.
The ruling military council had previously promised the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has endured.
Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart Mali amid the intensifying energy crisis and escalating security concerns.
It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration headed by the military leader, who took control in a military overthrow in two years ago.
The military government had popular support when it took power, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability prompted 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 sent in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.
Both have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to tackle the violence.
However, the militant uprising has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the state remain not under administrative command.
