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Mali has suspended educational facilities and higher learning institutions across the nation due to a critical petrol shortage triggered by a blockade on fuel imports imposed by militant groups.

The Education Minister stated on national broadcast that all education institutions would stay shut until the ninth of November, clarifying that the travel of staff and students had been affected by the blockade.

He emphasized that the authorities were “doing everything possible” to end the situation so that educational activities could continue on 10 November.

For several weeks, the nation has been facing a fuel shortage, especially in the capital Bamako, after armed groups from an al-Qaeda-linked organization enforced a blockade by attacking transport vehicles on major highways.

The country is without coastal access, so all petroleum products are brought in 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 recent weeks, and the city's normally bustling streets have now allegedly grown silent.

The ruling military council had earlier this month assured citizens that it was only a temporary issue, but the emergency has continued.

In the past few days, the United States diplomatic office in Bamako stated that non-essential diplomatic staff and their dependents would evacuate Mali amid the worsening fuel shortage and escalating security concerns.

It noted that the petroleum supply issues had affected the supply of electricity and had the “potential to disrupt” the overall security situation in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a military junta headed by the military leader, who took control in a takeover in recently.

The ruling council had widespread approval when it assumed control, vowing to tackle the long-running security crisis triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

The United Nations stabilization force and France's military had been sent in previously to address the growing rebellion.

These forces have withdrawn since the junta took over, and the current administration has hired foreign fighters to combat the instability.

However, the militant uprising has continued and extensive regions of the northern and eastern territories of the country remain outside government control.