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Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on energy resources enforced by Islamist insurgents.

Minister of Education declared on public media that all education institutions would be inactive until November 9th, explaining that the transportation of staff and students had been impacted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the administration were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by attacking tankers on key routes.

Mali is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by truck from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Extended lines have been forming around petrol stations in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The ruling military council had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has continued.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening energy crisis and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

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

The junta had popular support when it assumed control, committing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to deal with the escalating insurgency.

These forces have departed since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to combat the violence.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.