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Mali has suspended schools and universities across the nation due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister stated on state television that all learning centers would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the travel of employees and pupils had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He emphasized that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the crisis so that educational activities could restart on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by striking tankers on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from bordering countries such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been winding around fuel outlets in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The military government had earlier this month assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would leave Mali amid the intensifying fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It said that the fuel disruptions had affected the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta under the leadership of General Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in 2021.

The junta had public backing when it assumed control, committing to deal with the long-running security crisis triggered by a independence uprising in the northern region by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and French forces had been sent in previously to deal with the growing rebellion.

These forces have left since the junta took over, and the current administration has contracted foreign fighters to address the violence.

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