đ Share this article Mali Shuts Down Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Jihadist Blockade Exacerbates Fuel Shortage Lengthy lines have been appearing around petrol stations in the past few weeks The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities across the nation due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on energy resources imposed by militant groups. Minister of Education stated on national broadcast that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations. He emphasized that the authorities were âdoing everything possibleâ to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November. For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on primary roads. Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by truck from bordering countries such as Senegal and CĂ´te d'Ivoire. Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent. The junta-led administration had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has continued. Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and escalating protection worries. It noted that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the âability to disturbâ the overall security situation in unpredictable ways. Mali is currently ruled by a army council led by the military leader, who seized power in a takeover in recently. The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, committing to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by Islamist militants. The international UN troops and European soldiers had been deployed in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity. Both have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to address the violence. Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.