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Mali has closed educational facilities and colleges across the nation due to a critical petrol shortage caused by a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister declared on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until the ninth of November, explaining that the travel of employees and students had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the government officials were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the main city, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by striking tankers on primary roads.

Mali is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are delivered by road from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

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

The ruling military council had earlier this month assured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako announced that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in 2021.

The junta had public backing when it took power, promising to address the long-running security crisis prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in previously to deal with the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has employed foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain outside government control.