Mali Closes Educational Institutions and Universities as Jihadist Restrictions Worsens Fuel Emergency
Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.
Top education official announced on national broadcast that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the transportation of staff and pupils had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.
He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.
For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by striking tankers on primary roads.
The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently grown silent.
The military government had previously promised citizens that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.
Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.
It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.
The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.
The ruling council had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to address the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.
The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.
These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.
Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.
