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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges across the nation due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies enforced by militant groups.

Top education official declared on public media that all education institutions would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the movement of personnel and learners had been impacted by the blockade.

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

For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently become deserted.

The military government had in recent days promised citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and growing security concerns.

It said that the fuel disruptions had impacted the power distribution and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a coup in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been sent in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.

These forces have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the military government has contracted private military contractors to combat the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.