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Mali has temporarily halted schools and universities countrywide due to a severe energy crisis resulting from a blockade on energy resources implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education declared on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, noting that the movement of staff and learners had been disrupted by the blockade.

He stated that the authorities were “making every effort” to end the crisis so that educational activities could continue on November 10th.

For weeks, the nation has been experiencing a energy deficit, especially in the administrative center, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate initiated a blockade by targeting transport vehicles on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are delivered by land routes from adjacent nations such as Senegal and the neighboring nation.

Long queues have been winding around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The military government had previously promised citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.

Last week, the United States diplomatic office in the capital stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would evacuate the country amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating protection worries.

It explained that the petroleum supply issues had disrupted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is presently governed by a army council headed by General Goïta, who assumed authority in a takeover in recently.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, committing to deal with the ongoing instability prompted by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

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

Both have withdrawn since the military assumed power, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to combat the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the nation remain outside government control.