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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a blockade on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on public media that all academic facilities would stay shut until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of employees and pupils had been affected by the blockade.

He asserted that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, especially in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a embargo by attacking fuel trucks on key routes.

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

Long queues have been forming around petrol stations in the capital in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The military government had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has endured.

In the past few days, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and increasing safety issues.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.

The junta had popular support when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been deployed in 2013 to address the increasing militant activity.

These forces have departed since the military assumed power, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to combat the violence.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain not under administrative command.