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Mali has closed schools and universities countrywide due to a critical fuel scarcity caused by a embargo on energy resources enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on national broadcast that all academic facilities would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the travel of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the restrictions.

He stated that the administration were “making every effort” to resolve the emergency so that academic sessions could resume on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, Mali has been experiencing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization imposed a restriction by attacking transport vehicles on primary roads.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are brought in by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's usually crowded streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The military government had in recent days assured residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in Bamako announced that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing protection worries.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta led by General Goïta, who seized power in a takeover in recently.

The military government had public backing when it assumed control, vowing to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to address the growing rebellion.

The international troops have left since the junta took over, and the ruling council has contracted private military contractors to combat the instability.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain beyond state authority.