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Mali has temporarily halted schools and colleges countrywide due to a critical petrol shortage resulting from a embargo on petroleum supplies implemented by jihadist fighters.

The Education Minister declared on state television that all academic facilities would remain closed until November 9th, clarifying that the transportation of staff and learners had been disrupted by the restrictions.

He asserted that the administration were “working tirelessly” to alleviate the crisis so that classes could resume on November 10th.

For several weeks, Mali has been facing a petrol crisis, particularly in the administrative center, after armed groups from an jihadist network enforced a restriction by attacking tankers on major highways.

Mali is without coastal access, so all fuel supplies are transported by road from neighboring states such as Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Lengthy waits have been snaking around gas pumps in the capital in the last several days, and the city's normally bustling streets have now reportedly grown silent.

The military government had earlier this month promised residents that it was only a short-term problem, but the situation has continued.

Recently, the American diplomatic mission in the capital announced that non-essential diplomatic staff and their relatives would leave the country amid the intensifying petrol scarcity and increasing security concerns.

It explained that the energy interruptions had impacted the energy availability and had the “potential to disrupt” the broader protection environment in unpredictable ways.

Mali is now led by a military junta led by the military leader, who assumed authority in a coup in recently.

The ruling council had popular support when it took power, committing to tackle the protracted safety emergency triggered by a separatist rebellion in the northern region by the Tuareg population, which was then taken over by Islamist militants.

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

These forces have withdrawn since the new administration came in, and the ruling council has employed private military contractors to combat the insecurity.

Nevertheless, the Islamist rebellion has endured and significant areas of the northern and eastern zones of the nation remain beyond state authority.