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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity resulting from a restriction on fuel imports enforced by militant groups.

The Education Minister stated on public media that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the travel of staff and pupils had been affected by the restrictions.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the emergency so that educational activities could continue on the tenth of November.

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, particularly in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by targeting tankers on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The junta-led administration had previously assured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and increasing safety issues.

It noted that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in a decade ago to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the junta took over, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to address the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain not under administrative command.