Mali Shutters Schools and Universities Amid Fuel Shortages Caused by Militants

Mali suspended schools and universities across the country Monday as the military government continues to grapple with a fuel shortage caused by a weeks-long blockade imposed by al Qaeda-linked militants, the BBC reported.

On Monday, Education Minister Amadou Sy Savane announced that all education institutions will remain closed until Nov. 9, adding that the government is “doing everything possible” to end the crisis.

The landlocked West African nation has been hit by fuel shortages since early September, when jihadist militants from the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, announced a blockade on fuel imports.

The militants have attacked convoys of fuel tankers attempting to enter the country or making their way to the capital of Bamako. Mali imports fuel supplies by road from neighboring African states, including Senegal and the Ivory Coast.

Analysts told Reuters that the blockade is part of a pressure campaign by militant groups against the country’s military government.

While the government said earlier this month the blockade was temporary, the crisis has persisted: Some fuel stations in Bamako have closed, and the capital’s usually crowded streets have fallen silent in recent weeks.

The shortages have prompted fears of potential unrest. Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako announced that non-essential staff and their families would leave the country, warning that disruptions to fuel and electricity supplies “have the potential to disrupt the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.”

Mali has been under military rule since Gen. Assimi Goïta seized power in a 2021 coup, amid growing public frustration over worsening insecurity caused by separatist and jihadist insurgencies in the north.

Since then, both the United Nations peacekeeping mission and French forces – deployed more than a decade ago to combat the insurgency – have withdrawn from Mali. The junta has since turned to Russia and Moscow-backed mercenaries to confront militant groups.