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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and colleges across the nation due to a severe fuel scarcity triggered by a blockade on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.

The Education Minister declared on public media that all learning centers would be inactive until the ninth of November, noting that the movement of employees and students had been affected by the restrictions.

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

For a number of weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, notably in the main city, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are delivered by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days promised the public that it was only a short-term problem, but the emergency has persisted.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a army council under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a coup in two years ago.

The military government had popular support when it took power, committing to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been deployed in previously to deal with the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has employed Russian mercenaries to combat the instability.

However, the jihadist insurgency has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.