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Mali has closed schools and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a critical energy crisis resulting from a blockade on fuel imports imposed by Islamist insurgents.

Top education official stated on public media that all learning centers would remain closed until 9 November, clarifying that the movement of staff and pupils had been affected by the imposed limitations.

He emphasized that the administration were “making every effort” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could restart on November 10th.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, notably in the capital Bamako, after militants from an jihadist network imposed a blockade by attacking fuel trucks on major highways.

The country is landlocked, so all petroleum products are transported by road from adjacent nations such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.

Extended lines have been winding around gas pumps in the main city in recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly fallen quiet.

The junta-led administration had previously reassured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the situation has endured.

Last week, the American diplomatic mission in the capital stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would leave Mali amid the worsening energy crisis and escalating safety issues.

It said that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the general safety conditions in unpredictable ways.

The West African nation is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who took control in a takeover in recently.

The military government had widespread approval when it came to authority, vowing to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a autonomy movement in the north by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The international UN troops and French forces had been stationed in a decade ago to deal with the escalating insurgency.

These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the military government has contracted foreign fighters to combat the instability.

Nonetheless, the Islamist rebellion has continued and significant areas of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain beyond state authority.