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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted schools and universities throughout the country due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a restriction on petroleum supplies implemented by militant groups.

Top education official stated on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the travel of employees and learners had been impacted by the blockade.

He asserted that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda-linked organization initiated a restriction by targeting transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are delivered by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been forming around gas pumps in the capital in the past few weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The military government had previously assured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would leave Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and growing security concerns.

It noted that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

Mali is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of the military leader, who seized power in a military overthrow in recently.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it took power, committing to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The United Nations stabilization force and European soldiers had been sent in 2013 to address the escalating insurgency.

Both have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has hired private military contractors to combat the instability.

However, the jihadist insurgency has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.