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Mali has closed schools and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity resulting from a embargo on energy resources imposed by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, explaining that the movement of employees and students had been impacted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the situation so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a embargo by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are transported by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Lengthy waits have been forming around gas pumps in the main city in the last several days, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously promised the public that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has endured.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and growing protection worries.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a army council headed by the military leader, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in 2021.

The military government had popular support when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the ongoing instability prompted by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been sent in previously to combat the increasing militant activity.

These forces have departed since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted private military contractors to address the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has endured and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the country remain not under administrative command.