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Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a restriction on energy resources enforced by militant groups.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the travel of personnel and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that classes could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, especially in the administrative center, after insurgents from an jihadist network imposed a restriction by striking tankers on key routes.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had earlier this month reassured the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the US Embassy in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing safety issues.

It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The military government had popular support when it took power, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity.

These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the violence.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.