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The landlocked West African country has temporarily halted educational facilities and universities throughout the country due to a severe fuel scarcity triggered by a restriction on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

Minister of Education announced on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until 9 November, explaining that the movement of staff and students had been impacted by the imposed limitations.

He asserted that the government officials were “working tirelessly” to resolve the situation so that educational activities could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, particularly in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network initiated a blockade by targeting fuel trucks on key routes.

The country is landlocked, so all energy resources are brought in by land routes from adjacent nations such as its western neighbor and Côte d'Ivoire.

Long queues have been snaking around petrol stations in the capital in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now apparently become deserted.

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

Last week, the US Embassy in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their dependents would leave the country amid the intensifying fuel shortage and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the fuel disruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a armed forces administration headed by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a military overthrow in two years ago.

The military government had widespread approval when it assumed control, committing to tackle the ongoing instability caused by a autonomy movement in the northern territories by ethnic Tuaregs, which was then hijacked by extremist groups.

The international UN troops and French forces had been sent in 2013 to deal with the increasing militant activity.

These forces have left since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has contracted foreign fighters to tackle the violence.

Nevertheless, the militant uprising has continued and significant areas of the north and east of the nation remain outside government control.