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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and universities countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a blockade on fuel imports implemented by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, noting that the movement of employees and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the authorities were “making every effort” to alleviate the situation so that academic sessions could continue on the tenth of November.

For weeks, Mali has been facing a energy deficit, particularly in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a restriction by targeting transport vehicles on primary roads.

Mali is landlocked, so all energy resources are brought in by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

The military government had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would leave Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had disrupted the supply of electricity and had the “ability to disturb” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration led by General Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in recently.

The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to address the protracted safety emergency caused by a separatist rebellion in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by jihadist fighters.

The international UN troops and European soldiers had been stationed in previously to address the escalating insurgency.

Both have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the military government has contracted Russian mercenaries to address the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the jihadist insurgency has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the state remain beyond state authority.