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Mali has closed schools and colleges across the nation due to a acute fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the transportation of staff and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “doing everything possible” to resolve the situation so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a petrol crisis, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on major highways.

Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are brought in by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would depart the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had popular support when it took power, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to combat the growing rebellion.

These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired foreign fighters to address the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.