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Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities across the nation due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a restriction on energy resources enforced by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would be inactive until the ninth of November, clarifying that the movement of staff and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.

He stated that the government officials were “making every effort” to end the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been grappling with a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a embargo by attacking tankers on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been forming around fuel outlets in Bamako in the past few weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days assured the public that it was only a temporary issue, but the crisis has persisted.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would depart Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and growing protection worries.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the energy availability and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a coup in 2021.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, vowing to deal with the ongoing instability triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been deployed in previously to address the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the military government has hired foreign fighters to combat the instability.

However, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain outside government control.