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The landlocked West African country has suspended schools and colleges across the nation due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on energy resources imposed by militant groups.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would remain closed until 9 November, noting that the travel of personnel and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to resolve the crisis so that classes could continue on the tenth of November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a energy deficit, notably in the administrative center, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a blockade by striking fuel trucks on key routes.

Mali is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are delivered by truck from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

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

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would leave the country amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the energy availability and had the “ability to disturb” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a army council headed by General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in 2021.

The junta had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and France's military had been deployed in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to tackle the insecurity.

However, the militant uprising has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain beyond state authority.