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Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe energy crisis triggered by a restriction on fuel imports implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education stated on state television that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of staff and students had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could resume on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by targeting transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all fuel supplies are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around petrol stations in the main city in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now apparently grown silent.

The junta-led administration had previously assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unforeseen manners.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council headed by the military leader, who took control in a takeover in 2021.

The military government had widespread approval when it came to authority, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been sent in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to tackle the violence.

However, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.