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Mali has suspended schools and colleges countrywide due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies imposed by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the travel of staff and learners had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He stated that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would leave the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, promising to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.

These forces have left since the new administration came in, and the current administration has employed private military contractors to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain outside government control.