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Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on fuel imports implemented by militant groups.

Minister of Education declared on public media that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the transportation of staff and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an jihadist network enforced a restriction by targeting tankers on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all energy resources are transported by truck from neighboring states such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been forming around fuel outlets in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month assured the public that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had affected the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a military junta under the leadership of Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently.

The junta had widespread approval when it came to authority, promising to address the protracted safety emergency triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and France's military had been deployed in a decade ago to address the escalating insurgency.

The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to tackle the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain not under administrative command.