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The landlocked West African country has closed schools and colleges countrywide due to a acute fuel scarcity resulting from a restriction on energy resources implemented by Islamist insurgents.

The Education Minister declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the travel of employees and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.

He emphasized that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to end the emergency so that academic sessions could continue on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a restriction by attacking tankers on primary roads.

Mali is landlocked, so all fuel supplies are delivered by road from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in recent weeks, and the city's typically busy streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The junta-led administration had previously assured citizens that it was only a passing concern, but the emergency has continued.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital declared that non-critical embassy personnel and their relatives would leave the country amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the power distribution and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unforeseen manners.

Mali is presently governed by a army council under the leadership of General Goïta, who assumed authority in a military overthrow in recently.

The junta had public backing when it came to authority, committing to deal with the protracted safety emergency caused by a independence uprising in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by jihadist fighters.

The UN peacekeeping mission and European soldiers had been stationed in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have left since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed Russian mercenaries to tackle the insecurity.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.