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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage resulting from a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education declared on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until 9 November, explaining that the movement of personnel and pupils had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could resume on 10 November.

For weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on key routes.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently grown silent.

The ruling military council had in recent days assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and escalating security concerns.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it came to authority, committing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to address the growing rebellion.

These forces have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain not under administrative command.