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The landlocked West African country has closed educational facilities and colleges countrywide due to a severe petrol shortage caused by a restriction on energy resources imposed by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on national broadcast that all education institutions would remain closed until the ninth of November, clarifying that the travel of staff and learners had been impacted by the blockade.

He asserted that the government officials were “doing everything possible” to alleviate the situation so that classes could restart on 10 November.

For weeks, Mali has been experiencing a petrol crisis, especially in the capital Bamako, after militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate enforced a restriction by targeting transport vehicles on key routes.

The country is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are brought in by land routes from bordering countries such as its western neighbor and Ivory Coast.

Extended lines have been winding around petrol stations in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly become deserted.

The ruling military council had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has endured.

Recently, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-critical embassy personnel and their families would evacuate the country amid the worsening petrol scarcity and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had impacted the supply of electricity and had the “capacity to affect” the broader protection environment in unexpected forms.

The West African nation is now led by a military junta headed by General Goïta, who took control in a coup in two years ago.

The military government had widespread approval when it took power, promising to deal with the protracted safety emergency prompted by a independence uprising in the northern region by Tuareg communities, which was then co-opted by extremist groups.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been sent in 2013 to combat the increasing militant activity.

Both have departed since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to tackle the instability.

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