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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and universities across the nation due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a embargo on fuel imports enforced by jihadist fighters.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the transportation of staff and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that classes could continue on November 10th.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been facing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by striking tankers on major highways.

The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The military government had in recent days reassured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the crisis has continued.

Last week, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would depart the country amid the intensifying energy crisis and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is presently governed by a armed forces administration led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a coup in 2021.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the long-running security crisis caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and French forces had been sent in 2013 to combat the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed private military contractors to combat the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and extensive regions of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.