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The landlocked West African country has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions countrywide due to a severe fuel scarcity caused by a restriction on petroleum supplies enforced by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister announced on public media that all learning centers would be inactive until 9 November, clarifying that the transportation of personnel and pupils had been impacted by the blockade.

He asserted that the authorities were “working tirelessly” to end the crisis so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, notably in the capital Bamako, after insurgents from an al-Qaeda affiliate imposed a blockade by striking fuel trucks on primary roads.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by truck from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been snaking around fuel outlets in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had in recent days reassured residents that it was only a passing concern, but the situation has persisted.

In the past few days, the US Embassy in Bamako declared that non-essential diplomatic staff and their families would depart Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating safety issues.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unexpected forms.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in two years ago.

The junta had widespread approval when it took power, vowing to deal with the long-running security crisis prompted by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by the Tuareg population, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and French forces had been stationed in previously to deal with the escalating insurgency.

Both have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the military government has employed foreign fighters to address the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has persisted and large parts of the northern and eastern territories of the state remain beyond state authority.