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Mali has temporarily halted schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a acute energy crisis caused by a restriction on fuel imports imposed by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education stated on public media that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, clarifying that the movement of employees and learners had been impacted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the administration were “making every effort” to end the crisis so that educational activities could continue on the tenth of November.

For a number of weeks, the nation has been grappling with a fuel shortage, particularly in the main city, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a embargo by striking tankers on primary roads.

The country is surrounded by land, so all energy resources are transported by road from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around fuel outlets in Bamako in the last several days, and the city's usually crowded streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has continued.

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that secondary diplomatic employees and their relatives would leave Mali amid the deteriorating energy crisis and increasing protection worries.

It said that the energy interruptions had disrupted the power distribution and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unforeseen manners.

The West African nation is now led by a army council led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The junta had public backing when it took power, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the north by Tuareg communities, which was then taken over by extremist groups.

The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces had been sent in a decade ago to combat the increasing militant activity.

The international troops have left since the military assumed power, and the ruling council has employed foreign fighters to tackle the instability.

Nonetheless, the militant uprising has persisted and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the state remain outside government control.