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Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges throughout the country due to a acute fuel scarcity triggered by a restriction on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and learners had been affected by the restrictions.

He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that classes could continue on 10 November.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a restriction by targeting transport vehicles on key routes.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are brought in by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta led by the military leader, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had popular support when it came to authority, vowing to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the instability.

However, the militant uprising has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.