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Mali has closed schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a embargo on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education stated on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until November 9th, clarifying that the travel of employees and students had been disrupted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that classes could resume on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a embargo by targeting fuel trucks on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been winding around gas pumps in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The military government had previously assured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has persisted.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.

It noted that the fuel disruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, promising to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a independence uprising in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to address the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the violence.

However, the Islamist rebellion has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain beyond state authority.