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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a critical fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

Minister of Education stated on public media that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, explaining that the travel of staff and students had been disrupted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by striking tankers on key routes.

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

Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The junta-led administration had previously assured residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has persisted.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing safety issues.

It noted that the energy interruptions had affected the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is presently governed by a army council headed by the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had popular support when it took power, promising to address the protracted safety emergency prompted by a separatist rebellion in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been stationed in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

These forces have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the current administration has hired Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.