The West African nation Closes Educational Institutions and Higher Education Centers as Islamist Militant Blockade Intensifies Fuel Crisis
The landlocked West African country has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe petrol shortage triggered by a restriction on energy resources imposed by militant groups.
Minister of Education stated on state television that all learning centers would stay shut until November 9th, noting that the movement of personnel and learners had been impacted by the restrictions.
He emphasized that the administration were ādoing everything possibleā to alleviate the emergency so that educational activities could resume on November 10th.
For weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the administrative center, after militants from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by striking tankers on major highways.
The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by land routes from neighboring states such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.
Lengthy waits have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.
The military government had previously reassured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the crisis has continued.
Recently, the US Embassy in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would depart the country amid the deteriorating fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.
It said that the fuel disruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the āpotential to disruptā the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.
The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration led by the military leader, who seized power in a coup in 2021.
The ruling council had public backing when it came to authority, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.
The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been stationed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.
These forces have left since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired private military contractors to address the violence.
Nonetheless, the jihadist insurgency has endured and extensive regions of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.
