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Mali has suspended schools and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a acute petrol shortage caused by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the travel of staff and pupils had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the crisis so that academic sessions could resume on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a restriction by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been forming around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now apparently fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the deteriorating petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in 2021.

The military government had public backing when it took power, committing to address the ongoing instability triggered by a independence uprising in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in a decade ago to deal with the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the junta took over, and the ruling council has employed private military contractors to combat the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain outside government control.